Demons and Ghosts
by Red's-Fury
Summary: A new halfa is in town, but she's not quite what you think! How will Danny handle the new enemies? And is the girl friend or foe? Rating may go up in later chapters.
1. A Midnight Meeting

Well, here it is. It's a new story I've started cause I was in the mood. Anyway, if you haven't already, go back and read the author's notes. The Disclaimer applies here but I'm not gonna repeat it.

Have fun and let's go!

**Chapter One: A Midnight Meeting**

It was a clear night in Amity Park. The moon was full but there were clouds in the distance that threatened rain.

At this time of night, most people are asleep. Since it was almost midnight, everyone should be snug in their warm beds.

Of course, there are a few exceptions.

A trio of teens, two boys and a girl, could be seen flitting from shadow to shadow in the park in the center of town.

The boy in the lead is the one who is most alert. He has unruly black hair and ice-blue eyes. He wears a dark blue jacket with a white t-shirt underneath and blue jeans. The girl who is following him closely has violet eyes and shoulder-length black hair tied back in a small ponytail. She has on black jeans and a purple tank top with a dark purple coat wrapped around her. Lagging behind them a ways is an African-American boy with a red beret, glasses, and a PDA. His outfit consists of green cargo pants, a yellow turtleneck, and a khaki jacket. This last teen is trying to stifle a yawn and failing miserably.

Their names, respectively, are Danny Fenton, Samantha Manson (who goes by Sam), and Tucker Foley. They are best friends and they share a secret. For you see, Danny Fenton has another side to him that only a handful of people know. He is a halfa, someone who is half-ghost and half-human. This 'alter ego' of his is known as Danny Phantom and is considered the 'unofficial' protector of Amity Park.

Right now, however, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were looking for someone or something that wasn't a ghost.

"Are you sure you saw something out here?" Tucker asked sleepily, raising a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn.

"Of course I did, Tuck," Danny replied, glancing around quickly. "You can't miss something like that when it's flying around in front of a full moon."

"And you're sure it wasn't a ghost?" Sam shivered as she spoke, pulling her jacket closer around her bare shoulders.

"This thing wasn't green or transparent. It had wings and a tail, but looked human. And when I got here, my ghost sense didn't go off." Danny sighed and sat down on the edge of the fountain they had come to.

Sam sat down next to him and patted his leg. "Don't worry about it right now, Danny. We'll look for it more this weekend. We need to get home. We do have class tomorrow."

Danny sighed again and stood up. "Yeah, you're right. I'm going ghost!" At that, a ring of blue light appeared at Danny's waist. It split into two and they separated. As the rings traveled farther apart, more of Danny's other half was revealed.

This Danny wore a black Spandex suit with a white collar and belt, white boots and gloves, and white D on his chest. At his right side hung the Fenton Thermos, his most useful (and reliable) tool for fighting ghosts. His black hair changed to white and his bright blue eyes changed to a glowing ghostly green. This was Danny Phantom, the protector of Amity Park.

Sam watched Danny's transformation with awe. She had seen him transform many, many times but it never seemed to get less exciting. Danny had come into his powers almost two years ago when an accident in his parent's lab had melded ghost DNA with his human DNA. Now, at 16, Danny had finally grown into his powers. He could use the Ghostly Wail whenever he wanted. Even though it still took a lot of energy out of him, it didn't completely knock him out anymore. On the plus side, he had managed to duplicate himself. He could now become four Danny's instead of just one.

Danny had also gained the respect of the town. Even though the ghost hunters still tried to capture him on occasion (especially his parents since they didn't know his secret), he no longer had regular people who feared him.

Sam stood and stretched, scratching the back of her head in the process. "Well, we had better head home. A new school year starts tomorrow. Hooray," Sam smirked, sarcasm dripping from her last word.

"Yeah, we should. Hey, Tuck, let's go!" Danny looked around, wondering where his friend had disappeared to.

Sam looked around as well. She couldn't see Tucker anywhere. Suddenly, she spotted a spot of red on the ground. She grabbed Danny's arm and pointed to it.

Danny and Sam made their way over to it. When they reached it, both of them had to work very had to keep from laughing. On the cold, and slightly damp ground, Tucker had curled up in a fetal position and gone to sleep.

Danny shook his head and bent over to pick up his sleeping friend. He went to sling him over his shoulder when Sam shook her head.

"Take him home like that, then come back. I'll be fine by myself for a while." Sam smiled at him.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It is awfully late, you know."

Sam nodded and smiled again. "Yeah. I've got the Specter Deflector and the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick. Plus, when you get back, we can have some alone time."

Danny chuckled and leaned in to give his girlfriend a kiss. He floated up and backwards, smiling at her.

Sam watched him with a smile on her face until he turned invisible and flew Tucker home. She activated the Specter Deflector around her waist and kept a firm grip on the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick (a.k.a. a baseball bat with Jack Fenton's face on it). She sat down on one of the benches around the fountain, waiting and reflecting on her relationship with Danny.

They had been dating for about a year now. Danny had been in a fight with Walker and Technus (the Ghost Zone's prison warden who kept trying to put Danny in jail, and the annoying ghost who was 'Master of All Things Electronic' according to himself and the 'Master of Long-Winded Introductions' by Danny and his friends). He had been hurt badly and couldn't go home. Sam had set up a temporary room for him in her attic and took care of him for the month that he needed to recover.

After a while, Sam would wait until Danny had fallen asleep and then talk to him about school, or homework, or even her feelings for him. One of those times, however, Danny had only been pretending to be asleep and Sam had confessed her love to him. Danny had opened his eyes and told her the same thing. Needless to say, Sam had been pleasantly surprised. They had shared their first 'real' kiss that night (the two 'fakeout-makeouts' hadn't counted) and now could almost always be seen together.

Sam broke out of her reverie when she heard boots tapping lightly on the sidewalk next to her. She tightened her grip on the baseball bat and checked to make sure the Specter Deflector was working properly.

A girl appeared in the moonlight next to Sam. This, however, was no ordinary girl. The first thing Sam noticed was that the girl had dark red leathery wings tucked against her back and a red tail with an arrowhead shape at the end. The girl had bright red hair and very pale skin with pointed ears and bright red eyes.

Sam stared at the girls outfit. It seemed very similar to Danny's. This girl wore a blank tank-top with red stripes slanting diagonally across it. On her arms were red fingerless gloves that went all the way past her elbows with a single black stripe running down the outside of her arms. The girl's pants were black hip huggers with red stitching. The outfit was completed with red boots that had black laces running up the side and black stitching.

The girl turned to Sam with a small, slightly sad, smile on her face. She then turned to stare that the place where Danny had disappeared. "You're lucky. You've got a great guy." The girl turned back to Sam.

Sam shook herself out of her examination and stood up to face the girl. "Who are you? What do you want with Danny? How do you know him? When--- "

"Whoa, girl," the girl chuckled slightly and held up a hand to stop Sam. "No need to worry about your boy. He's in no danger from me. My name is Demonica and I'm a halfa."

Sam started at this statement. "A…a halfa…? But I thought…halfa's were only those who are half-ghost and half-human. You're definitely no ghost or Danny wouldn't have left."

Demonica chuckled slightly, marveling at the girl's intelligence. She then shook her head and answered, "Nope. 'Halfa' is more of a general term than a specific one. Halfa's are any being that is half-human, half-something else. Me? I'm half-human, half-demon."

Sam nodded slightly, a sign for the other girl to finish answering her questions.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I'm a halfa. My parents were obsessed with demons. They wanted to learn so much about them that they built a demon portal to access the Demon Realm. Well, the night they went to test it, it didn't work and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Well, they left and I decided to take a look myself. When I did, I accidentally---"

"---turned the machine on and got blasted with Demon energy. You were knocked unconscious and when you woke up, you found that your DNA had been fused with Demon DNA," Sam finished for her with a small smile on her face.

Demonica just stared at her. "How did you…I mean…?"

"'Cause that's pretty much the same thing that happened to Danny, only with Ghost Portal and DNA instead of Demon."

Demonica smiled at that. Suddenly, her smiled turned to a frown. She glanced up and stepped back into the shadows surrounding the fountain.

"Sam, don't tell Danny about this yet. It will be our secret. I promise that I will tell him in the very near future. Promise me?" Demonica's voice was all Sam could make out of the girl.

Sam nodded and she heard a faint "good" and a slight rustle of branches as Demonica moved away from the Goth girl.

Sam stared at the place where Demonica had vanished. A few seconds later, she felt herself swept up in a ghostly embrace.

"You sure took a long time, you know." Sam wrapped her arms around Danny's neck and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Well, Tucker's house is clear on the other side of town," Danny whispered in her ear. "So, anybody bother you while I was gone?"

"Nope. I'm pretty sure all 'smart' people are in bed, Mr. Phantom," Sam teased, trying to ignore the little nagging voice in the back of her mind that was reminding her of her conversation with Demonica.

Danny laughed and tightened his grip on her protectively. "If the 'smart' people are in bed, what does that make you, Miss Manson?"

Sam smiled and gazed into Danny's glowing green eyes. She loved him, and though most people told her that 'Love at 16 isn't real,' she knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. " I do believe that makes me lucky."

The couple flew off towards the darkened city. They didn't notice the blazing red eyes watching them from the darkness.

A faint voice spoke sadly, "So lucky, Sam. So lucky."

_**Well, there's the first chapter boys and girls! Did you like it? Can't wait for more? RxR and let me know!**_


	2. The Big News

Well, here's the next chapter. If you're confused, don't worry. Everything will be explained soon.

Review, people!

'_thoughts'_ --inner thoughts, everything else--spoken

On with the show!

**Chapter Two: The Big News**

"BLEEP. BLEEP. BLEEP."

Danny rolled over and blinked his eyes sleepily at the alarm clock next to his bed. Indistinct red numbers gleamed back at him. Danny blinked a few more times and rubbed his eyes to clear the sleep from them. Slowly, the numbers shifted into view.

Danny groaned. "Why did I set my alarm for 6:30 in the morning?" Danny grumbled as he got out of bed. He stumbled over bits of strewn clothing and made his way to the bathroom.

While he showered, Danny thought. He thought about his relationship with Sam, which made him smile as he remembered all the good times they had spent together. He also thought about what he had seen last night. It hadn't been a ghost, that much he was sure of.

Danny frowned a little at that last thought. '_If it wasn't a ghost, then what was it?'_ This thought ran through his mind as he turned the shower off and grabbed a towel to dry himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and glanced in the mirror.

Puberty had been good to him. He hadn't had acne like some of the other guys at school. He had also grown a full foot, putting him at almost 6 feet tall. There had been a point in school last year when he hadn't talked for almost an entire month because his voice had been changing. During that time, Sam had done most of the talking for him while Tucker kept snickering every chance he got. (Tucker, the lucky bastard, had gone through the same change during the summer when he hadn't had to face anyone.)

Danny had kept his hair in the same style and now simply ran his hands through it. As he made his way back to his room, he could hear someone walking around downstairs. He got dressed as quickly as he could, took one final look in the mirror, and bounded down the stairs.

As he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he stopped when he saw who it was that was there.

His older sister, Jazz, was puttering around in the kitchen, first mixing something in a large bowl, then stirring something on the stove. She had gone off to college two years ago. Now, she only came home on holidays and special occasions, and she never came home without telling someone beforehand.

Danny turned invisible and snuck up behind his sister. While she was mixing some batter with a wooden spoon, Danny dipped a finger in the mixture and followed the spoon. Jazz stopped stirring and watched as the mixture continued to swirl, seemingly of its own accord.

Jazz smiled and turned to look at her brother as he came back into view. She was the only member of Danny's family that knew he was half a ghost. She had learned about it accidentally, during the incident with Spectra acting as the school psychologist, and had gone on to confront him about it much later. Danny had been very glad, if a little reluctant at first, to share his secret with his sister.

"So, Sis," Danny smirked a little as he pulled his finger out of the batter and licked it, "What are you doing here?"

Jazz pulled the bowl out of Danny's reach and continued stirring. "A big sister has to have a reason to see her little brother off to his first day of school?"

Danny rolled his eyes and grabbed a bowl and a box of his favorite cereal out of the cupboard. "If I was six. Besides, you've got something you're not saying. I know for a fact that: 1) you didn't tell anyone you were coming and 2)," Danny liked his lips, "You only make fudge when you're trying to keep something a secret."

Jazz froze and turned to her brother. "What…What makes you say that?" She cleared her throat and resumed stirring, visibly shaken by her brother's observance.

"Jazz, please. You're my sister and I love you dearly, but you are the easiest person to figure out. Plus, you've done it before. Remember the first time you tried to make fudge? That incident when I was in first grade?"

Jazz cringed and Danny smirked, knowing full well that his sister didn't like to be reminded of her mistakes. He continued. "Then the incident in third, fifth, sixth, eighth,-"

"Okay, Danny. I get it. You can stop now." Jazz rolled her eyes at her brother.

"So, tell me what you're trying to keep a secret. No, wait. Let me guess." Danny ate a couple spoonfuls of cereal while he was thinking. "Is it about school?"

Jazz smiled and shook her head, but didn't say anything. She knew Danny like to at least try and figure things out on his own. (How he was still a C student was anyone's guess. He could be very observant when he wanted to be.)

"Okay, not school. Hmm…" Danny took another bite of his cereal. "Well, you brought your boyfriend home at Christmas. Does this secret have to do with him?" Danny watched his sister to judge whether or not he was getting close.

Jazz turned back to what she was making so Danny couldn't see the blush that started to stain her cheeks. She nodded slightly and Danny knew he was on the right track.

"Okay. So, it has something to do with Peter. Hmm…Well, I don't think the secret is that he dumped you or you dumped him. Otherwise, you're eyes would be red from crying and the fudge wouldn't taste as good." Danny chuckled at that and ate another spoonful of cereal. "Am I right so far?"

Jazz nodded again, but still didn't say anything. She figured Danny would either get it eventually or she would tell him when he gave up.

Danny glanced at his half-empty cereal bowl, trying to sort through the clues his sister had given him. It was a good secret about Peter and was reason enough for her to drive a day and a half to come home. He knew that they had been dating for almost a year now. Suddenly, something clicked in Danny's brain.

"He asked you to marry him, didn't he?" Danny lifted the spoon to his mouth to take another bite, but lowered when he saw his sister's shoulders were shaking. "Jazz?"

Jazz turned to face her little brother. There were tears in her eyes but she had a smile on her face. Instead of answering him, she held up her left hand. There on her ring finger sat the biggest diamond Danny had ever seen.

Danny's cereal had been forgotten as the young halfa went to give his sister a hug. "That's great, Jazz! I think you two are perfect for each other. Besides, anybody who can stand to be around our parents for a month without going insane deserves to be considered family."

Jazz returned the hug with a smile and laughed at his last comment. At times like this, she was glad he was her brother.

Suddenly, Danny's phone began to ring. He broke their hug and answered it. "Hey, Tuck. What?" Danny listened for a moment and then looked at his watch. "No, I didn't forget. I'll be there in a few minutes. See ya." Danny turned off the phone and turned to his sister. "Well, I gotta go. It's my turn to drive this week." Danny headed out of the kitchen to get his bookbag, car keys, and coat.

Jazz nodded to him and then remembered that she had something in her coat pocket for him. "Danny! Wait up!"

Danny stopped and turned to his sister.

Jazz rummaged in her coat pocket for a second before producing a blue velvet ring box. She handed to her brother. "Here. This is the promise ring that Peter gave me. He told me to keep it for good luck. Well, I know how much you like Sam, so I thought that you could use the luck more than me."

Danny opened the box to find a white-gold ring with alternating emeralds and sapphires along the top of it. "Wow, Jazz! This is perfect, thanks! Tell Peter thanks, too." Danny closed the box and slipped into his pocket. As he picked up his keys, he said over his shoulder, "Oh, and Jazz? Make sure Dad doesn't eat all of the fudge, 'kay?"

Jazz laughed and nodded. Danny shut the door behind him and headed off to school.

_Well, what did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know! Any flames will be used to roast Paulina and Dash. I'm still looking for someone to help with pictures of characters._


	3. Introductions and confrontations

Hey, peeps! This chapter is kinda long but it would have been even longer if I had left it attached to the previous chapter instead of cutting in two.

Anyway, the Disclaimer applies here as well as "Barbie does not belong to me."

_'thoughts'_--in-head thoughts, "everything else"--spoken words.

On with the show!

**Chapter Three-Introductions and Confrontations**

After picking up both Tucker and Sam (the latter taking a little bit longer since Danny had to sit through a ten-minute interrogation by Sam's parents), Danny pulled into the high school's parking lot. The three friends piled out of the car and headed up to the school. They were starting their junior year and were hoping that this first day would be better than last year's.

"Hey, Fen-Turd!"

This was going to be pretty much the same as the previous years.

Danny sighed as he opened his locker. "Hello, Dash."

"Well, well, well. Looks like little Fentina finally grew up! What am I going to do, now that you don't fit in the lockers?" Dash sounded wounded and held his hand to his chest, garnering a laugh from the students around him.

Danny sighed again and shut his locker. "Nice to see you too, Dash," Danny mumbled so that only Sam and Tucker could hear him. Both friends suppressed grins. Danny could have easily taken Dash, but he didn't like using his ghost powers against innocent people, even if they were as annoying as Dash Baxter.

The three teens made their way to their first class, which just happened to be English with Mr. Lancer. (Yep, it's an appearance by everyone's _favorite_ teacher!) They made their way to the back of the classroom and sat down. For the next ten minutes, they talked amongst themselves as students slowly drifted into the room.

Soon, the bell rang and Mr. Lancer called his class to attention and started to take roll. When he was about halfway through, there was a knock on the door. Mr. Lancer went to open it and there was a hushed conversation. Mr. Lancer nodded a couple of times and stepped back into the classroom.

"Well, class. It seems we have a new student joining us today. Come on in."

The door opened completely and a girl stepped into the room. She had long blond hair that had bright blue streaks and was tipped with the same bright blue, bright green eyes and tan skin. Her t-shirt was dark green and had a white dragon on the front with the words '**Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with tomato sauce**'. She wore dark denim capris that were frayed at the ends and had various patches sewn on the legs. Her outfit was completed with bright yellow sneakers with green laces and little drawings.

Mr. Lancer coughed to get the attention of his class. He said, "Everyone, this is Alexandra Stokes. Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Miss Stokes?"

The girl smirked. "First of all, the name's Alex. And don't even think of changing it to something else. You won't like the consequences." This last bit was said with a scowl and a hint of anger in the girl's voice.

The class laughed a little nervously and Mr. Lancer merely harrumphed.

"Not much to say about me. My parents, my little brother, and I just moved here about a week ago from a little town outside of Orlando. My brother Adrian is the most annoying person in the world."

Another nervous laugh rippled through the classroom. Mr. Lancer pointed to an empty desk in the back of the room. "Why don't you take a seat behind Miss Manson? Then we can get started."

Alex made her way to the back of the room, sat down in the assigned desk, and pulled out a well-worn notebook. As Mr. Lancer turned to the board, Alex started drawing the people in her class. When the overweight English teacher went to ask her a question, hoping to catch his new student off-guard, he was rewarded with a correct answer even though she never looked up from her notebook.

Sam, Tucker, and Danny shared a glance and were about to ask Alex a question when the bell rang. The students gathered their stuff and headed off to their other classes.

Alex stopped at her locker to check her schedule. She had Western History next, but she didn't know where the room was. She turned to see if she could find someone to show her around when someone bumped into her. She dropped the books she had been carrying. She apologized, even though it wasn't her fault, and bent down to pick up her dropped supplies.

Suddenly, there was a girl on the floor next to her, helping her gather her stuff. Alex looked up and saw that it was the same girl she had sat behind in English.

Sam finished helping the new girl pick up her stuff and stood up. Danny and Tucker appeared behind her. The new girl stood up and brushed herself off. She then stuck out her hand and said, "Thanks. Not many people would risk their reputations to help the new kid. I'm Alex and you are…?"

Sam took the offered hand and shook it. "I'm Sam Manson. The two guys behind me are Danny Fenton," He inclined his head at her, "and Tucker Foley." Tucker didn't say anything. He just stared, not even trying to flirt with the girl. "And don't worry about our reputations. We don't exactly go with the popular crowd."

Alex looked from one face to another. "Could have fooled me. Anyway, it's nice to meet you all. Can any of you show me where Western History is?"

Tucker spoke up then. "Sure. I'll show you. I'm headed that way anyway."

Alex nodded her thanks and they set off, not wanting to be late. Sam and Danny headed in the opposite direction.

They walked in silence for awhile, contemplating Alex's words. Sam was the first to break the silence. "Do you think she meant when she said we could have been with the popular crowd?"

Danny shrugged and squeezed Sam's hand. "That wasn't what confused me. Did you notice that Tucker wasn't trying to hit on her?"

Sam thought back to their meeting and was startled by what she remembered. She gasped. "You're right! I thought Tucker flirted with any and all girls. Maybe he's been possessed by a ghost."

Danny chuckled. "Nope. My ghost sense didn't go off. He was the Tucker we know and love." In his head, Danny said to himself, '_Not all girls.'_ The couple sped up their steps so they wouldn't be late to class.

The rest of the morning passed without incident. In fact, Danny only had to fight one ghost (The Box Ghost, of course!) and even then, he didn't miss any class because he showed up just as Danny was heading to lunch.

Sam and Tucker sat down at their usual table and waited for Danny. Sam opened her sack lunch and pulled out a turfwich while Tucker sat down with a plate loaded down with the Casper High's infamous 'Meatloaf Surprise.' Danny showed up a few minutes later and sat down with a sandwich and some chips. Tucker scanned the crowd and spotted Alex. He waved to get her attention and motioned for her to join them.

Alex wound her way to their table and sat down, a notebook in one hand, a brown sack in the other. Alex set the sack down and opened the notebook, continuing her sketch of Mr. Lancer from her morning class. No one said anything for a few minutes. When Alex finished her sketch, she set the notebook down and opened the sack, pulling out a blue container with a red lid, a bottle of water, and an apple.

Sam was the first to say anything. "So, Alex, you don't like cafeteria food either?"

Alex grimaced and shook her head. "Eww, no. Do you know what they put in that stuff? Makes me sick just thinking about it."

Sam perked up at this and Tucker stopped shoveling food into his mouth.

Sam decided to risk it and asked, "So are you vegetarian or do you like to eat meat?"

Alex shrugged. "Some meat's ok," Sam's face fell a bit at that but Alex continued anyway, "but I don't think I could do Ultra-Recyclo-Vegetarian. Besides, I like to eat stuff that's been freshly prepared." With that, Alex opened the container. Inside were three California Rolls and two pieces of Smoked Eel sushi.

After seeing Alex's lunch, Tucker blanched and dropped his fork. He could eat pretty much anything but when it came to raw fish, he just couldn't stomach it.

Danny paid no real attention to what the group was eating. He was eyeing Alex's sketchbook. He noticed the drawing of Lancer and thought it looked real.

Alex noticed this and turned the notebook towards Danny. He looked up to see her grinning. "Go ahead. Have a look. You're not gonna hurt anything." Alex picked up her chopsticks and continued eating.

Danny wiped his hands on a napkin, not wanting to get chip grease on everything, and picked up the notebook. He flipped to the front of it and started looking at the pictures. Most were of a city from somewhere high up, with a few portraits thrown in. Danny was surprised to see that, like the drawing of Mr. Lancer, most of these looked like photographs instead of drawings. "Wow, Alex. These are amazing. They look so real," Danny remarked as he flipped forward through the notebook.

Then something caught his eye. On one page of the notebook was an outfit description and sample designs. On the page next to it was a picture of an unusual creature wearing the aforementioned outfit.

Danny turned the notebook to Alex and pointed to the picture. "Alex? Who's this?"

Alex looked up from her lunch and nearly choked on her sushi. _'Oh, crud. I forgot that picture was in there.'_ She coughed a little and looked into Danny's questioning gaze. "She was…my…uh…friend…before I had to move. Her name is Demonica." _'Well, that was close.'_ She regained her composure and finished eating.

Danny wasn't quite convinced but he handed the notebook back to Alex. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Paulina whispering to her groupies. When she stood up and started their way, Danny turned back to his friends and said, "We should leave. Paulina's headed this way."

"No." Alex turned her notebook to a fresh page and started a new drawing.

Danny started. "What do you mean, 'No'?"

"Just that. We shouldn't have to leave simply because some popular girl says so," Alex calmly replied while adding more to her sketch.

Danny stared open-mouthed at her while Sam gave her a genuine smile. _'This girl's got guts.'_ was the thought that ran through Sam's head. Just then Paulina made her presence known.

"Excuse me. You're Alex, right?"

Alex merely nodded, choosing to continue her drawing.

Paulina continued, ignoring the fact that the new girl hadn't answered her. "Well, I was just wondering why you were sitting with these losers when you could be sitting with the popular people." Paulina waved her arm behind her in a vague gesture to the table she had been sitting at.

Alex turned to her then. "The only **people** I see here are Danny, Sam, and Tucker, all of whom are great people to be around and just happen to be my friends. The only **loser** I see is you. You are nothing more than a stuck-up Barbie clone who can't think for herself and has to have a flock of mindless sheep follow you around and bow to your every whim. Now, if you don't mind, I'll ask you to leave before you ruin my appetite any more than you already have."

Alex turned back to her notebook and put the finishing touches on her sketch. Everyone in the cafeteria was staring at her, some with their mouths hanging wide open, and there was no sound in the entire room. Paulina simply stood at the end of the table with her mouth hanging open, staring at the new girl.

Alex turned to the three people sitting in front of her. Danny and Tucker had similar expressions: eyes wide and mouths open. Sam had a huge smile on her face. Alex turned the notebook around so the three of them could look at her new sketch.

Danny and Tucker stopped staring long enough to look at the picture in front of them. Sam looked at it as well. All three of the teens broke out in huge grins and started to laugh. Alex had captured Paulina at her most unique. The sketch showed Paulina in a shepherdess outfit with Anime-eyes and her mouth clear to the floor. Behind her was a small flock of sheep who had similar expressions. In one corner, Alex had even drawn little figures of Sam, Danny, and Tucker who were clapping. The entire drawing was topped by the words, **The Shepherdess and her Sheep**.

Alex put on a big grin and gathered her supplies. She got up from the table and, as she passed Paulina, gave her a sickeningly sweet smile and said loud enough for the entire lunchroom to hear, "You might want to close your mouth before the flies think it's a garbage pit to make a home in."

With that, Alex walked out of the cafeteria leaving behind a stunned silence from the popular table and small smiles from her new friends.

**_Well, what did you think? I loved dissing Paulina! Gummi bears and a yellow Peep if someone draws that sketch._**

**_Leave a review and tell me what you think! _**


	4. Surprises

Hey, peeps! Thanks to mysterygal for the first review! Yeah, I really liked the speech with Paulina. I went to school with people like her. shudders

anyway, not much going on this chapter. The next chapter will have more action, I promise.

On with the show!

**Chapter Four-Surprises**

The rest of the day passed without incident. Danny didn't have to fight any ghosts and Alex didn't have to comment about her speech in the cafeteria. It seemed as if the world had come to a complete, albeit temporary, standstill.

When the final bell rang and everyone headed out to their cars, Danny, Sam, and Tucker lingered behind, trying to convince Alex to join them.

"Come on, Alex. It'll be fun. Besides, it's tradition for us." Tucker and Danny were taking turns pleading to a reluctant Alex.

"I don't know, you guys. I wouldn't want to intrude and I still haven't unpacked all my stuff yet…" Alex trailed off, hoping that her new friends would get the hint.

Finally, Sam stepped in. "Listen, Alex. After what you said at lunch today, I think you deserve to be treated. That took guts and I admire what you did. How about this? We'll go over to my house, go bowling, maybe watch a movie, and just talk?"

Alex sighed, defeated. Bowling was her one weakness. She just couldn't get enough. "All right, but I need to let my parents know. Why don't you follow me to my house and I can tell them and drop my stuff off?"

Danny nodded and they headed towards their vehicles. When Danny got to his car, he stared longingly at the masterpiece parked next to it.

As Tucker approached the car, he whistled. "That is one beautiful machine. Who would drive a 1966 Candy Apple Ford Mustang to school? They must be out of their minds."

When Alex walked up to the car and opened the door, both boys just stared at her. Alex just smiled and said, "What?"

Danny was the one to say something. "You…you drive this car? How…Why?"

Alex smiled and patted the top of her car. "Yep, this is my baby. Well, one of my babies anyway. Mom won't let me drive the other one until I give it a bath."

Tucker just continued to stare, alternating between the car and Alex.

Alex cocked her head and looked at Tucker. "Ummm…Tucker? Are you okay?"

Tucker shook his head to clear it and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Well, we better get going, right?" With that, Tucker opened the rear passenger door to Danny's car and climbed in.

The other three teens followed suit and soon they were headed towards Alex's house. They drove for awhile until they were almost out of town. Suddenly, Alex tuned down a narrow, winding road and continued until the group came to a gigantic hill. Alex pulled off to the side of the road a ways and got out of her car. Danny pulled up behind her and rolled down his window as she approached.

"What's up?"

Alex was suddenly very nervous. "Well, I…uh…just…don't freak out when you see my house okay? There's a reason we're out this far."

The three teens in Danny's car shared a glance. All three nodded and Alex went back to her car.

As the cars crested the hill, the trio let out an involuntary gasp. Before them lay the biggest house any of them had ever seen. It far surpassed both The Manson Mansion and Vlad's, well, castle.

The entire valley behind the hill seemed to be nothing but one big house. It sprawled over several acres and had not only the house itself, but also a small orchard, animal pens, and one large open field.

The two cars pulled up to an electric fence. Alex leaned out of her car and motioned for Danny to do the same. "You'll need to enter the code to get through the gate. It's 4251 and you have to enter it three times."

Danny nodded his understanding and turned to Sam. "4251, three times." Sam nodded. It was usually her job to remember stuff like that since Danny was notoriously bad at remembering anything.

After Alex had pulled through the gate, Danny pulled up the gate and punched in the code. He even got it right the first time. The gate opened to admit him and the miniature convoy continued on its way to the gargantuan estate.

Alex turned into a circular drive and Danny followed suit, not knowing quite what to expect.

The teens stopped their cars in front of an enormous set of doors. Arranged haphazardly along the driveway were various vehicles of many different makes and models. Close to the teens cars was a green 2003 Buick LeSabre. Beyond that was a silver 1997 McLaren F1.

Danny and Tucker let their eyes roam over the menagerie of vehicles both old and new. Alex and Sam just rolled their eyes at each other. Alex wound her way through the vehicles before she stopped next to an extremely muddy Chevy Trailblazer. It was dirty enough that you couldn't make out the model or even the color.

Alex patted the driver's side mirror lovingly. "This is my other baby. He's the one I use when I go off-roading, if you couldn't tell."

All the teens laughed at that. Alex gave the car a final pat and headed towards the house. Danny, Tucker, and Sam followed in a stunned silence.

Alex opened the door and motioned the group to come in. They slipped inside and stopped dead. The inside of the house was even more astonishing than the outside.

Every wall was lined with picture and assorted memorabilia from around the world.

Alex saw the three friends staring at the walls. She shook her head and pulled them away. "Come on, guys. You didn't come here to stare at the walls. Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

That got Tucker's attention. He got a big smile on his face and nodded vigorously. Danny and Sam just rolled their eyes.

Alex led the way through the large house until they reached the very grand kitchen. It was a professional chef's dream come true. Everywhere you turned were shining chrome appliances and sleek marble countertops. Off to one side was a beautiful mahogany table with a dozen chairs around it. On the table was a plate of cookies with a note.

Alex picked up the note and motioned for her new friends to help themselves. Danny picked one up and nibbled on it experimentally. Finding that it was pretty good, he finished it and picked up two more. Tucker took this as a good sign and snagged about half a dozen.

Sam looked disgusted and Alex merely sighed. Alex opened the note. After she scanned it, she had to work to hold back a laugh. Sam raised an eyebrow at her. Alex merely handed the note to her.

Sam read it once. She couldn't believe it so she read it again just to be sure. When she gave Alex a questioning, the blond merely nodded and her smile grew even wider. The girls started to laugh silently as they watched the boys continue to devour the cookies. Soon, it got to be where the two girls were laughing so hard that they were almost rolling on the floor and crying.

Danny and Tucker stopped their siege of the cookies to look at the two girls who were now holding their stomachs and trying to stop laughing. Alex was the first to catch her breath. She stood up, wiped the tears from her eyes, and bent down to help Sam up.

"Okay, you two. What's so funny?" Danny took another bite of the cookie he was holding.

"That." Alex pointed to the cookie in his hand.

"What about it?" Tucker questioned. He still held several of the delicious morsels in his hands, even though he was now giving them an unusual look.

"Well, every year, on the first day of school, my mom bakes cookies. A couple of years ago, she started changing the recipe to try and get us to eat healthier. Now she sometimes switches between her regular recipe and," she paused for effect, "and her soy recipe."

For a moment, neither boy said anything. Tucker finally spoke up. "And these are?"

Alex grinned and Sam snickered. "These just happen to be my mom's soy cookies."

Danny had been about to take a bite but stopped when he heard that. He lowered his arm but left his mouth open. _'No way. These can't be soy cookies. They're too good.'_ This thought ran rampant through his brain. He looked at the cookie in his hand. It was then that he remembered Tucker was standing next to him. He turned to his best friend but what he found shocked him.

Tucker had stopped eating for a moment. He looked at the seemingly innocent cookies in his hands and then he glanced at Alex. She gave him a small smile. He thought to himself, _'I must be out of my mind,'_ and continued eating.

Both Danny and Sam were shocked into silence. Here was their best friend, the boy they had known almost all of their lives, the boy who wouldn't touch soy or tofu to save his life, eating soy cookies as if they were going out of style.

Tucker finished eating and swallowed. He knew he needed something to drink so he raised his hand to his mouth in the shape of a glass.

Alex got the hint. She walked to a cupboard, grabbed a glass and went to the fridge. She pulled out a container of milk and poured some.

Tucker gave her a suspicious glance and the girl chuckled. "Don't worry. It's not soy milk. Nobody in my family can drink it straight."

Tucker nodded his thanks and gulped down half the glass on his first swallow.

Alex looked pointedly at Sam and Danny, both of whom were still staring openmouthed at their friend. "You two want something to drink or are you just gonna stand there all day?"

The two teens closed their mouths. Sam asked for a bottle of water and Danny requested a glass of milk. Alex filled both orders and pulled out a bottle of orange juice for herself.

Just then, there was a resounding crash, a muffled explosion, and a subsequent curse. Alex raced from the room, the three friends following closely.

Alex stopped in front of a large steel door. She started to punch in a code when the door slid open and a man tumbled out in a cloud of smoke.

Alex stepped back to allow the man some room to breathe. He began to cough and waved his hand in front of him, trying to clear the smoke.

"Dad! Are you okay? What happened?"

The man straightened up and looked around. He had short blonde hair that seemed to be in a constant state of disarray. Alex seemed to have inherited the man's brilliant green eyes and tall, skinny build. He saw his daughter looking concerned and replied. "Well, I was trying to improve on some of my older inventions but I dropped the Catcher." He was going to say more when he caught sight of the three teens standing behind his daughter.

"Princess, why didn't you tell me you had friends over? Why don't you introduce me?"

"Dad, this is Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton, and Sam Manson." The teens nodded as their names were mentioned and Alex's dad returned the nod. "After my, ahem, 'meeting' with Paulina at lunch, we got to be great pals. Guys, this is Patrick Stokes: world-renowned Demon Hunter, part-time inventor, college psychology teacher, and the best dad I could ask for." Alex blushed at the last bit as her dad laughed.

"You flatter me, honey. It was nice to meet you all. Now, I need to get back in there and clean up the mess." He turned to go when Alex remembered why she had come home.

"Oh, Dad, before you go, I just wanted to let you know that Sam invited me to hang out with her and Danny and Tucker tonight."

"Okay, sweetheart. Just be home before curfew and take your cell phone."

"Alright, Dad. See ya later."

Alex's dad disappeared behind the door and the teen turned to her friends.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

**_Well, what did you think? Review, people! I know you're reading it!_**


	5. New Enemies, New Allies

Hey peeps! This chapter was a lot of fun to write. A familar face makes an appearance. Warm up your hissers now, you'll need them in the coming chapters.

I need reviews! They tell me whether or not I'm doing a good job. I accept all types. If you have any good suggestions, they may even get added in later chapters.

On with the show! (AND SAVE DANNY!)

**Chapter Five: New Enemies, New Allies**

Alex led the way out of the house, stopping only to grab her phone and keys from the small table near the front door.

When the group stepped outside, Alex turned to Tucker. "Would you, uh…would you like to ride with me? That way I won't get lost on the way to Sam's house." Alex's cheeks tinged pink.

Tucker was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to respond but no sound came out. He shut his mouth and nodded.

Danny and Sam shared a glance and got into Danny's car. Alex led the way to her car while Tucker followed, his face unreadable.

The two drivers turned their cars around and headed out of the driveway, this time with Danny in the lead. They didn't have to stop at the gate this time but Alex put her hand out the window and waved backwards to the house.

The mini-convoy got back on the road and headed towards Sam's house. In the lead, Danny and Sam were discussing Alex and Tucker.

"He likes her. And it's so obvious, too. I mean, he didn't try to flirt with her, he ate those soy cookies, and he was actually speechless around her." Danny watched the road intensely.

Sam examined her fingernails as she replied. "And she likes him. Did you notice? She kept giving him little smiles all day and when she invited him to her car, she actually blushed."

Danny nodded, deep in thought. He was glad his friend had found someone and that she liked him in return. However, something didn't seem quite right. She seemed nice enough but something in his subconscious kept telling him to be cautious. _'Must be habit after fighting ghosts for so long.'_ "Sam? Do you think they'll act like us for a while?"

"What do you mean?" Sam glanced at her boyfriend quizzically.

"You know, acting clueless when the other is around. Blushing constantly. All the things that happened between you and me before we got together."

Sam laughed and nodded. "Oh yeah. I think they might, at least for awhile anyway."

In Alex's car, it was silent for the first few minutes until Tucker asked about her car. She answered his questions and asked a few of her own. Soon, they were chatting comfortably about anything and everything that came to mind.

When the two cars stopped at Sam's house, Danny and Sam stepped out of the car in time to hear Alex's car door open and laughter pour out.

"The Box Ghost? What kind of name is that?" Alex stepped out of her car, still laughing. Tucker got out of the car with a big grin on his face.

Sam, Danny, Tucker, and Alex entered the Manson Mansion. As luck would have it, Sam's parents had gone to a convention and would be gone for a whole week. Sam proceeded to give Alex a tour while Danny pulled Tucker aside.

"Why were you guys talking about the Box Ghost?" Danny whispered in his friend's ear.

"Relax, dude," Tucker whispered back. "She said she had done some research and found that Amity Park has dealt with a lot of ghosts. She was just interested if I knew anything about that. She didn't ask about Phantom and I didn't say anything." Tucker pulled his arm out of his friend's grasp and set off to find the girls.

Danny stood there for a minute. His ghost sense hadn't gone off all the while Alex was around. That didn't mean that Alex wasn't working for a ghost. He just had to be more observant.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash outside. Danny raced to the window and looked out. He heard Sam and Tucker run up beside him, but he didn't turn to them. He was still transfixed by the scene outside.

A large statue seemed to have come to life and was trying to destroy the town. It wielded a large stone hammer and was swinging wildly. Suddenly, something flew from somewhere behind Sam's house to attack the creature. It was the same figure Danny had seen against the moon last night.

The ghost boy gasped and stepped back from the window. He turned to see if Alex was behind, but she was nowhere to be seen. Danny yelled his familiar battle cry, "Going Ghost!" and with the accompaniment of the familiar white ring, transformed into Danny Phantom. He phased out of Sam's house after ordering his friends to "Stay inside. I don't want to risk you getting hurt. This isn't a ghost I've ever seen."

Danny flew up to the statue and tried to get its attention. The creature just ignored him and kept swatting at what was flying around its face.

Danny debated whether or not his ecto-rays would harm this being even if it wasn't a ghost. He didn't see the hammer start to swing his way. He did, however, hear the shout of "Look out!" and, forgetting for a moment that Sam and Tucker were still back at Sam's house, reacted purely by instinct: he shut his eyes and turned intangible, waiting for the smack that would surely spell his doom.

When it didn't come, Danny opened his eyes to see that the creature had stopped swinging and was now aiming its hammer for the place where the flyer had stopped which just happened to be directly in front of his eyes. The being waited till the last possible second before flying out of the way, causing the giant statue to hit himself in the face with a resounding 'THWACK!' The thing staggered a bit before falling backwards towards the ground. Before it could hit the ground, however, the flyer pulled something from its belt and aimed it at the creature. There was a bright flash of light and the being disappeared. The flyer holstered the thing and flew towards Danny.

As it got closer, he could tell it was a girl with bright red eyes, something he always associated with evil ghosts. She flew up to him and stuck out her hand. "Thanks,. If you hadn't distracted him, I wouldn't have been able to do that."

Danny stared at the girl incredulously. He didn't know what to make of this girl. "Umm, I don't mean to be rude, but you're not a ghost, are you?" The girl laughed and shook her head. "Nope. I'm a demon, but I'm not here to cause you any trouble." She still held her hand out, but it was now beginning to waver.

Danny reached out to take her hand when he heard a voice that made his blood run cold.

"My, my. Isn't this touching? My two rivals in one convenient location."

Danny whirled around to see a green-skinned, black-haired half-ghost floating behind him, looking extremely smug.

"Plasmius," Danny hissed at the man.

"What do you want, Vlad?" Danny turned to see the girl clenching her fists at her side.

"Now, is that any way to greet a family friend, Demonica?" Vlad smiled, an eerie thing that would cause small children to run and hide.

"I don't care if you were friends with my parents in college. I'm not your friend and I'm not going to be your lackey. Now, go away before I have to hurt you…again."

"But, my dear, I'm not here for you. I'm here to see Mr. Phantom there." He pointed to Danny. The boy heard but was watching the girl flying next to him.

'_What was her name? Demonica? I wonder if this is the girl Alex called her friend.'_ Danny had noticed the similarities between this girl and the one in Alex's sketchbook. _'Well, I think I can trust her a little bit, especially if she's against Vlad for the same reasons I am.'_

Danny turned to Vlad and crossed his arms over his chest. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to join you and Mo-I mean Maddie Fenton isn't going to divorce her husband and run away with you. Give it up and get a cat!"

Vlad still had that creepy, smug smile on his face. "I'm not worried about that. I'll have you both, in time. For now, know this." Plasmius turned so he spoke to both Demonica and Phantom. "I know both of your secrets. If you don't join me, I'll make sure the world knows as well." With that, Vlad turned and flew away, leaving the two heroes stunned and pale.

Demonica flew to the ground and Danny followed, not knowing what to think. This girl had a secret? What was it? And how did Vlad know?

Demonica turned to the Ghost Boy. "Well, that was…unpleasant. That man infuriates me!"

Danny nodded his understanding and landed in front of the girl.

Demonica sighed. "Well, since psycho-Vlad interrupted our first meeting, I thought we could try again." She stuck her hand out again. "Hi. My name is Demonica. And you are…?"

Danny grasped her hand and shook it almost solemnly. "Danny Phantom, but the rest of the town insists on calling me," here, he let go of the girl's hand so he could make air-quotes, "Inviso-Bill."

Demonica smiled outwardly, but inside she was thinking. _'Danny? This Phantom and Sam's boyfriend share the same first name. Their last names sound kinda the same: Fenton, Phantom. Heck, they even look a little alike! I wonder…'_

Danny smiled grimly. "This may sound a little strange, but I have to ask. Are you planning on terrorizing Amity Park?"

Demonica gasped and shook her head vigorously. "No! No. I'm actually here to try and live a peaceful life. I don't think that's going to happen now that Plasmius knows I'm here."

Danny smiled warmly, glad to hear some good news for a change. This time, he stuck his hand out. "How about we make a deal?"

The girl gave him a pointed look. "What kind of deal?"

"You join up with me." Danny caught the look on her face and continued quickly, "Not as hero and sidekick. I'm talking equal partners. We'll work as a team. I'll handle the ghosts, you handle the…" he pointed to her belt.

"Demons." Demonica tapped the thing she had used to capture the giant beast.

"Yeah, and we'll work together against Plasmius to keep Amity safe. How 'bout it?" Danny's hand was still in the air.

Demonica seemed to think for a moment. In fact, she was weighing the pros and cons. If she helped this Danny Phantom, she might be able to live a somewhat normal life and get Plasmius to leave her alone. If not, she would have to deal with the demons and Plasmius, something she was not looking forward to anytime soon. In the end, she decided that it would be better to join forces than stand alone.

"Deal." The girl grabbed the Ghost Boy's hand.

* * *

In a distant realm, somewhere that was not part of any separate kingdom but a combination of all, a shadow stood next to a placid bowl of water. In it was a picture of Demonica and Danny shaking hands. The figure passed a bone-white hand over the bowl and the picture disappeared. Low, echoing laughter could be heard as the figure leaned over the bowl. "The wheels have been set in motion. This should be fun to watch." The laughter grew and echoed through the darkness the shadow was immersed in. "Very fun indeed."

_**Well, what do you think? Read and Review! Let me know.**_


	6. Connections

Hooray for 200 hits on this story alone! YAY!

News: I have a deviantART site: 'rpspartan. deviantart. com' (without spaces of course) go visist it and examine my crappy pics. i'll probably put one up of Demonica later this week. I'm also going to start a story on there because I had this really cool idea. I'll explain more as the story fleshes out.

This chapter has been done for awhile and I'm working on 7 right now, but hasn't been letting me log on for an entire week. Seven will be up later in the week.

**These are mind thoughts. Just between Demonica and Phantom. **_These are in-character thoughts. _Everything else is normal speech.

On with the show!

**Chapter Six-Connections**

The Demon Girl and the Ghost Boy shook hands vigorously and parted quickly.

"So, Phantom. It was nice to meet you but I need to be going." Demonica flapped her wings once to lift off but Danny floated up to meet her.

"Wait. How can I get in touch with you if something comes up?"

Demonica stopped, flapping her wings only enough to keep her in place. "Hmm. Well, I have an idea but I don't think you'll like it."

"Let me hear it and then I'll tell you what I think." Danny merely hovered in place.

"Okay, but you might want to sit down for this." Demonica drifted down to the ground and sat down. She looked expectantly at Phantom but he merely floated down to hover in front of her. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Demonica ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "Here's what I see. Either we waste months trying to come up with some technology that will work for both of us or we become blood brothers." The Demon Girl reached into a pocket on her pant leg and pulled a wicked looking knife.

Danny had been floating calmly in front of the seated girl but when she had said that, he faltered and fell to the ground. He gulped loudly and stuttered, "Bl…blood brothers?" Danny stared incredulously at the girl.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. It would only allow us to communicate in our heads without anyone else hearing." Demonica carefully examined the knife she held.

"Wait a minute! You mean you'd be able to hear what I was thinking?" Danny started to get up but Demonica put a hand on his foot and shook her head.

"No. I'd only hear something if you thought directly at me. If you're just thinking in general, I wouldn't hear it. Works the same for me. Besides, I don't think we can waste months on anything else."

Danny sighed and put his head in his hands. "Well, it doesn't seem like we have any other choice." He raised his head, his face unreadable. "Let's get this over with."

"All right. Now, are you right- or left-handed?"

"Right."

"That's good, so am I. Put your right hand out, palm up." He did so and Demonica placed her hand next to his so that their wrists lined up. She then placed the knife so that the tip of it rested against her pulse. "Last chance to back out."

Danny shook his head and locked his eyes onto Demonica's red gaze. "Okay. As soon as I cut, turn your hand sideways and grab my arm. Whatever you do, don't let go until I say. You ready?"

"No, but do it anyway."

"On the count of three. One, two, three!" Demonica yanked the knife across their wrists. Danny merely reacted, turning his hand sideways and Demonica locked arms with him. They gripped the other's arm tightly, not daring to let go.

The girl whispered a few words and a light began to shine around their wrists. Danny stared at it. As he did so, the light began to fade until it winked out all together.

** You can let go now. The bond is complete. ** Danny heard Demonica's voice but he hadn't seen her lips move. She loosened her grip and immediately Danny let go, a blush starting to creep over his pale skin.

** I didn't think that you would cut straight through to my skin. It was really weird. ** Danny stared at his wrist and realized that, not only had the skin healed but his suit didn't even seem to have a tear in it. ** How did you do that? **

** It's part of the magic of the bond. It fixes anything that was broken when making the connection, be it skin, clothing, or anything else. ** Demonica replaced the knife and stood up, brushing herself off. She held out a hand to help Danny up and he accepted it graciously.

"Now that that's over with, I really do need to be going, Phantom." Demonica smiled and her eyes twinkled mischievously.

Danny nodded and told her thanks. The girl flew off in one direction while Danny headed back to Sam's house, looking at his wrist and remembering that he still had plans.

When Danny arrived back, he phased into the house to find Tucker and Sam talking while Alex was nowhere in sight. He changed back and sat down on the couch next to Sam.

"Have you guys seen Alex?"

"Yeah, she appeared just a few seconds before you did. Said she missed the fight cause she had to take an important phone call and then asked where the bathroom was," Sam answered, snuggling close to Danny.

Just then, Alex came down from the bathroom, running slightly damp fingers through her hair. "Hey guys. Sorry about that. It was from my mom. You know how parents are," the girl chuckled and sat down in an armchair across from Tucker.

"No big deal. So what do you want do first: bowling or a movie?" Sam inquired of her guests.

All three grinned and shouted, "Bowling!" Sam laughed and got up. Danny, Tucker, and Alex followed. Instead of leaving, the group headed downstairs. Alex seemed a little confused by this but it soon turned to shock when she saw the theater and bowling alley the Mansons had in their basement. "You have a bowling alley in your basement? That is so cool!"

"It's pretty convenient, too. Especially if you don't want to go out in bad weather or pay for a game." Tucker moved to the rack of bowling balls and picked out his favorite.

"To make this more interesting, why don't we make a little wager? Winner gets to pick the movie we watch," Sam piped up.

"Okay, but we play teams. Highest combined score is the winner." Alex examined the rack of bowling balls, testing a few before deciding on a blood-red one.

Sam nodded. "Ok. Do we want guys vs. girls or couples?" She grinned evilly as both Tucker and Alex turned bright red. "Guys vs. girls it is, then."

Danny grinned and chose a bright green bowling ball, since it was his favorite color. Sam chose a dark purple and Tucker picked out a matte black. It was decided by a coin flip that the guys would bowl first so the girls moved back to discuss strategy.

Sam whispered to Alex, "Are you any good at bowling?"

Alex grinned and whispered back, "I was on a team at my old school. I was almost recruited by a professional bowling league cause I kept getting over 200 every time I bowled."

Both girls smirked and turned back to watch the boys.

Tucker and Danny were actually playing pretty well. They finished all ten rounds with a combined score of 200. They looked smug as the girls stepped up to take their turns. This look soon turned to amazement as first Alex, and then Sam broke 200 individually.

"So not fair! How were we to know that Alex was a professional bowler?" Danny whined as Tucker merely hung his head dejectedly.

"Hey, we won fair and square. Next time, we'll et you guys pick the movie," Alex quipped as Sam laughed at the face Danny put on.

There was a hurried discussion as the two girls decided what movie to watch while the boys ordered pizza. "What do you girls want on your pizza?" Danny called out as Tucker dialed the number.

Twin shouts of "Veggie!" rang out. There was a short silence followed by laughter. Danny shook his head amusedly and Tucker made a face as he placed their order. He hung up the phone and headed upstairs to wait for the pizza. Alex followed, saying she would help pay for it. The two teens brought the pizza back downstairs and everybody grabbed a slice of their favorite.

The girls had chosen to watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas" as it was their favorite movie. Sam and Danny sat down on the couch. Sam snuggled up next to her boyfriend and Danny put his arm around her shoulders. Tucker snagged his favorite armchair and Alex sat in front of him on the floor, claiming that she was "really quite comfortable" even as a blush slowly crept its way across her face. Tucker didn't seem to mind and the group settled in.

About halfway through the movie, Tucker fell asleep and began to snore lightly. Alex grinned and laid her head on his knee, hoping no one would notice.

Sam and Danny stole a glance at the two teens. Boyfriend and girlfriend smiled as if they were sharing a secret. Sam looked up at Danny lovingly and Danny returned the gaze. The two shared a quick kiss and turned back to the movie.

When it was over, Sam had to wake Alex up. The blonde had fallen asleep and curled up against Tucker's leg. Sam had to work to suppress a grin as the other girl blushed. Sam and Danny walked with Alex to the door. As she turned to leave, she gave her new friends big hugs. "Thanks so much. Listen, when Tucker wakes up, tell him I said goodbye and that I'll see him in class tomorrow."

The couple nodded and waved as Alex headed back to her car. They shut the door quietly and went to the task of waking Tucker. Before Alex got into her car, she happened to look in the window and she saw Sam kissing Danny. _'But that looks just like how Phantom kissed Sam! I was right! I just want one more opinion on it…'_ Alex got into her car and pulled out her phone. She pressed a button and listened to it ring as she started the car. Nobody picked up so she left a message on the answering machine for someone to call her back ASAP. She hung up the phone and concentrated on driving. A minute later, her cell phone rang. "Hey, Mom. No, I'm fine. Yeah, I had a great time with my friends. Is Adrian busy? Can you get him for me?" Alex was silent while her mom went to get her brother. "Hey, little bro. Listen, I got a favor to ask. Go up to my room and have a pencil and some paper handy ready when I get there. Just do it, I'll explain everything when I get home. We'll work out the details when I get there okay? All right. Bye." Alex hung up the phone and turned her music on.

When she got home, she raced upstairs to find her little brother sitting at her desk, doodling. He was the spitting image of his mother. The boy of 12 had cropped red hair that was extremely curly and grey eyes that changed from storm-colored to hardened steel, depending on his mood. He looked up when he heard his sister. She looked tired and flushed, but he didn't say anything.

Alex grabbed her easel and put up a blank sheet of paper. She turned to her brother. "All right, I need your opinion on something. On the top of a page, write 'FentonPhantom.' Then start writing down whatever I say, okay?"

"And what do I get out of this?" Adrian may have looked like his mother but he had his father's wit and intellect.

"You do this for me, I'll take you off-roading this weekend and then we'll fly around the city."

Adrian nodded and complied with his sister's demands. Alex started drawing something but she had the easel turned so Adrian couldn't see it. As she drew, she threw out random things like "Kissing Sam" and "Same first name."

Soon enough, Adrian had filled up the page with his sister's ramblings and Alex had finished her drawing. She put down her pencil and took a step back to examine it, moving in to fix a couple mistakes.

Alex turned the drawing to her brother and asked, "What do you see?"

Adrian had watched his sister draw enough times to know that when Alex drew, she hardly ever got anything wrong. "Looks like the same person to me. Why? Who is it?"

"One is a friend I made at school. The other is the hero (or villain, depending on who you talk to) of Amity Park." Alex grabbed her colored pencils and finished the drawing. She turned it back to her brother and he could now see the differences.

"Now they look like total opposites. Kind of like you and Demonica."

"I thought so. I think Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are two sides of the same person." Alex yawned and looked at her watch. "It's late and I've got school tomorrow. Thanks, Adrian."

"No problem, sis. Good night." Adrian tiptoed out the room. When he turned to close the door, he saw his sister had curled up and gone to sleep.

The boy shut the door quietly and crept to his room. He changed into pajamas and climbed into bed. _'I have a hunch that my sister is onto something.'_ The boy yawned and rolled onto his side. _'And my hunches are usually right.'_ With that thought, the boy drifted off to sleep, not worrying any more about his sister's discovery.

**_Well, what did you think? Leave me a review. _**


	7. Changes

Sorry about the really long wait. I was at home with dial-up and no way to plug in my flash drive. GAAH! I hate my parent's computer.

Anyway, I'll have another chapter up shortly. I'm typing it up now.

It may be a while before chapter 9 is up, though. I've got some issues to work through in it and I've got a summer job that starts at 3 a.m. (mountain time) this Friday.

On with the show!

****

**Chapter Seven-Changes**

Alex had a disturbing dream that night. It started normally enough with Alex getting ready for school. She had looked in the mirror and thought she saw her reflection flicker and disappear. When she looked again, her reflection was the same.

The dream shifted suddenly and she found herself at school. Alex was sitting in Mr. Lancer's English class. The teacher was calling roll and when he got to Alex's name, Alex raised her hand but he kept calling her name, finally saying that she was absent. Alex went to shout but she couldn't say anything.

Suddenly, the entire class turned to look at her. Some whispered, some sat stunned, and some students even ran screaming from the room. The blonde shifted in her seat, turning to her friends. Sam was smug, Tucker looked forlorn, and Danny merely shook his head.

Tucker started screaming. "How could you? How could you keep something like this a secret from us? We were your friends! We trusted you!" Alex tried to say something but still nothing came out. She started to cry and Sam contorted her face into a mask of fury.

"Oh, so now the Demon wench has feelings, does she? Maybe you should have thought of that before siding with Plasmius!" Sam stood up and stormed out of the classroom, pulling a sobbing and heartbroken Tucker with her.

Danny stood to face Alex. "Why, Alex? I thought you were against Plasmius. Why did you betray us?" Danny scowled at her. "I think you need to leave town. You've endangered us all." Then, Danny Phantom stood before her, hands glowing.

Alex shrank back and darted out of the room. As she sped though the halls, it seemed like an endless maze. Everywhere she turned, people stared at her, not bothering to talk in whispers.

"There goes the demon who sold us out." "We should never have trusted her." "Being half a demon was only the beginning of her deceit." "Did you hear how she betrayed her friends?" Numerous voices started to blend together and began to chant a single word, "Traitor!"

Alex sat straight up in bed, panting heavily. She hugged her knees to her chest and took deep breaths. There was a quiet knock on her door, and at her whispered, "Come in," her little brother poked his head in.

"Are you all right? I thought I heard something." Adrian stepped all the way into the room, a worried look on his face.

Alex wiped her eyes and smiled, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream. Go back to bed."

Adrian's worry changed to shock when his eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness. "Umm…Alex? I think that 'bad dream' affected you more than you think." He crossed the room to his sister's dresser and picked up a hand mirror.

"What are you talking about? I'm f-" Alex stared into the mirror her brother had handed her. "…But I haven't lost control like this since I first got my powers." The reflection that stared back at Alex was not her own. Instead of Alex's tan skin, bright green eyes, and blonde hair, the face in the mirror was her alter-ego Demonica with bright red hair, red eyes, and pale skin. "You were right, little bro. At least it was you and not Mom or Dad."

Adrian turned smug. "Yeah. You owe me one now. You could let me help you-"

Alex turned swiftly to glare at her brother and he gulped. "No. I already told you. You're too young to help right now. Besides, you're too easily recognized as my brother. If someone saw us together as Alex and Adrian and then Demonica and Adrian, we'd be screwed. I don't want to be exposed, get in trouble with Mom and Dad, and have you all in danger."

The redhead slumped, defeated. "Fine." He shuffled out the door, nearly slamming it behind him.

Alex shook her head. _'He just doesn't understand.'_ She turned back to the mirror in her hand and studied her reflection. As she stared, she noticed something strange. _'Why is my reflection fading?'_ Sure enough, right before her eyes, Alex's, or rather Demonica's, reflection disappeared from the mirror.

'_What the…? Demons can't go invisible.'_ Alex gasped, both mentally and physically. This broke her concentration and her image came back into view. _'That was weird. I think I need to talk to Dad and Danny tomorrow.'_

Alex yawned and set the mirror on her bedside table. She pulled the covers up to her chin, and rolled onto her side, shivering slightly. She was asleep almost instantly and didn't see the light blue mist that escaped her mouth.

Across town, the Fenton household was silent. Well, almost silent. Jack's snoring was reverberating through the house. Maddie couldn't hear it because she had put in the Fenton Ear Plugs. Jazz couldn't hear it because she had her music turned way up and had headphones on.

The only person who did hear it didn't care. Danny was pacing in his room, too restless to sleep. He looked at his clock again. It glowed 2:45 a.m. Danny grimaced as he resumed pacing. _'This is ridiculous. I have all this energy and my room is too hot to sleep in. Maybe flying will help.'_ Danny changed to Phantom and checked his door, making sure it was locked so no one would come busting in in the middle of the night and wonder why he wasn't there. He placed one half of the Fenton Phones by the door so he would hear everything, opened his window and flew off, staying invisible.

Danny flew aimlessly for a few minutes then decided to go see what his friends were doing at this time of day. He first flew to Tucker's house. When he got there, he looked in the window and nearly fell to the ground trying not to laugh.

Tucker had fallen asleep at his computer. His head was resting on the keyboard and he was drooling slightly. On the screen was a picture but Danny couldn't tell who it was. Danny snickered some more and left, still imagining Tucker as he drooled on his precious equipment.

Danny flew towards Sam's house. He was a little surprised to see her light on so he went intangible and floated into her room. Sam was sitting on her bed, back to the window, head down. Danny floated around to look at her but what he saw nearly shocked him into visibility. He still couldn't see her face but instead of the black hair he was used to, he saw that Sam's hair was strawberry blonde and slightly longer than her shoulders. He reached out to touch it and see if it was real when Sam looked up.

He was still invisible but she seemed to look straight at him. She got up and set down the book she had been reading. As she went over to her closet, Danny followed, wondering. Sam went to the back of her closet and reached behind her combat boots.

Suddenly, part of the closet slid away to reveal a bright yellow room. Sam went in and Danny followed, now intensely curious. Sam walked all the way into the room and put her hand flat on the wall. This time, instead of revealing another room, the walls flipped, revealing yards and yards of fabric. Up from the floor came three dressmakers' dummies. One had a finished outfit on, one had a work in progress and one was bare.

This time, Danny was so shocked that he actually stopped hovering for a second and fell to the ground. He hit with a loud thump and Sam whirled around, looking for the source of the noise. Danny panicked and froze, praying that he would stay invisible and intangible. Sam narrowed her eyes in Danny's general direction and Danny gulped. Loudly. After he realized it, Danny's eyes grew wide and he jumped up from the floor. Sam heard both the gulp and the clump from his boots on the floor. She knew it had to be Danny. She sighed and headed back into her room.

Danny stopped next to Sam's bed. He didn't know where to run to and he could hear Sam coming back. He turned around and became visible just as Sam left her closet. Danny put on a fake grin and hoped he could lie his way out of this.

"Hi, Sam. What are you doing up so late…I mean early?" Danny's grin faltered a little as Sam looked him straight in the eyes.

"Don't bother with the niceties, Danny. I know you saw it. You probably think I'm a freak, right? I understand if-"

"Whoa, whoa. Where did that came from? You think I'd call you a freak because you have a secret that nobody knows? Come on, Sam. If you think that way, then we might as well all be freaks," Danny scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Sam sounded confused and turned to her bed, away from Danny.

"Think about it. Everyone's got secrets that they don't tell anybody. You're no different. Look at me or Tucker. Heck, even Paulina's gotta have something she hides from the world."

Sam smiled a little and then a thought crossed her mind. "But what about my hair?"

"What about it?" Danny cocked his head to look at her.

"Well, now that you know I'm blonde, will you really want to be with me anymore? I'm a carbon copy, just like Paulina." Sam sighed and twisted her hands in worry.

"Sam! How could you think like that? You're not like Paulina at all! Don't ever think you are just because of your hair color." Danny narrowed his eyes and his temper began to rise. "You are not a carbon copy. You are unique, smart, funny, and beautiful. I love you, no matter what your hair color is."

Sam turned back to him to thank him but when she looked at his face, she stopped. Her eyes widened in surprise, but then they narrowed in confusion and she raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Danny? Are you all right?"

Danny nodded quickly. "I'm fine, Sam. Why do you ask?"

"Cause you don't look fine." Sam walked over to her desk and picked up a mirror. "Take a look." She handed the mirror to Danny.

Danny looked and nearly dropped the mirror. He was still in Ghost form but he now looked very different. His eyes were red and his ears had become pointed. He raised a hand to his face to make sure it was real and saw that his hand was smoking slightly. His normally white hair now had red streaks all through it.

"What the hell! What happened to me?" Danny started to scream but Sam clapped a hand over his mouth.

The girl lowered Danny's hand and the mirror it held. "Just calm down, Danny. Take deep breaths." He did so and his appearance began to change. "There you go. Your eyes are back to green and your hand stopped smoking. Sam failed to mention that his ears and hair were still the same.

Danny sighed and Sam dropped her hand. He sat down heavily on his girlfriend's bed, his head in his hands. When he spoke, it was slightly muffled. "What's wrong with me? This has never happened before. I hope I'm not turning into Dan."

Sam sat down next to him and gave him a hug. "It's ok, Danny. Evil you is safely locked away in Clockwork's castle. We can check on him tomorrow, if it'll make you feel better. Right now, though, we need to get some sleep."

"Can I stay here, Sam?" Danny changed from Phantom to Fenton and gave Sam a pitiful look.

"The puppy dog eyes. You know I can't say no to that face. Alright, let me just lock the door so my parents don't decide to barge in and get the wrong idea." Sam stood up as Danny grinned and then yawned. Sam smiled and went to lock her door. When she turned back, Danny had curled up into a little ball and gone to sleep. He looked vulnerable like that, not like the 16-year-old protector Sam knew.

"Good night, my hero," Sam whispered and laid down next to Danny. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and hugged him close. She drifted off to sleep, seeming to protect her boyfriend and savior.

_Well, what did you think? Leave me a review and tell me what you think! I'll give you cookies!_

_And watch the new DP epi on June 9th! SAVE DANNY! _


	8. Secrets and Shadows

New chapter, just like I promised.

I need a bad guy name. You'll find out why later in this chapter. The name the person has isn't very scary, but it's not meant to be. I need his master's name. Any ideas?

If you suggest a good one, i'll give you a supporting role in this story or your one one-shot.

On with the show!

**Chapter Eight-Secrets and Shadows**

Danny awoke just as the sun was beginning to rise. He felt hot and was a little confused by the weight on his shoulder. He smiled as he thought back to the night before. Danny realized that he had fallen asleep at Sam's and, sometime during the night, she had put her arm around him.

The Ghost Boy slid out of his girlfriends embrace and stood up to stretch. He looked down at his sleeping friend and smiled again. _'She looks so beautiful. I hope she knows how much I love her.'_ Danny strode over to Sam's desk and grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. He jotted a quick note and signed it with his emblem. After folding it in half and writing 'Sam' on the front, he propped it next to her books so she would read it before she left. He then changed into Danny Phantom and headed home.

As he flew, Danny fidgeted. His boundless energy was back. He didn't even feel tired after only a few hours of sleep. He started doing aerial acrobatics to try and get rid of some of the extra energy. When that didn't work, he flew home fast and began to clean. He cleaned his room, top to bottom, including dusting. He did everything but vacuum because he didn't want to wake anybody.

After he was satisfied with his room, he headed down to his parents' lab. Here he could make a little more noise because it was almost soundproof. He cleaned everything, organized what he could recognize, and changed the Ecto-Filtrator on the Fenton Ghost Portal. He took one final look around, gathered up the trash, and almost flew up the stairs. He took the trash out and happened to peer into the garage on his way back.

After the first (and only) failed garage sale, everything had started to pile up again. Danny knew his mom had been after his dad to clean it for some time, so Danny took it upon himself to finish the task. He organized everything, got rid of anything he couldn't recognize, cleaned up whatever was covered in goo, and even swept the floor. Danny stood back to admire his work, then picked up the trash and took it outside to dump it.

When he got back to his house, Danny could hear people moving around upstairs. He decided to really surprise them and began to make breakfast. Sure, it was only bacon, eggs, and toast, but he never cooked so it would definitely be a change. He finished and was setting the table when both his mom and his sister came into the kitchen.

Needless to say, the two women were stunned. Maddie's first thought was, _'What did he break?'_ while Jazz was thinking _'I hope this isn't one of Plasmius' clones.'_ They eyed the meal with a mix of appreciation and suspicion but both sat down at the table anyway. Danny dished out the food, some to his mom, some to his sister, a lot for himself, and the rest for his dad. He dug into his food with a fervor neither woman had ever seen him eat with. The two women shared a look and then turned to their own meals. They ate silently, the comfortable silence broken only by the sound of forks scraping on plates.

Danny finished and stuck his plate in the dishwasher. Maddie raised an eyebrow at her son, but he didn't stop there. With enough food set aside for his dad, Danny did the rest of the dishes, even going so far as to wipe off the stove and the counters. This really got Maddie's attention.

"Danny? What's going on? You didn't break anything, did you?" Maddie took her plate to the sink and rinsed it off, all the while looking at her son.

"What do you mean? Nothing's broken. I just felt like making breakfast. I mean, I have all this energy. I cleaned my room, the lab, the garage, and then I felt like cooking so I did." Danny spoke quickly, his energy making him ramble.

"Wait a minute! You cleaned your room, the lab, and the garage? And still had time to make breakfast? There is definitely something up, Danny!" Maddie's eyes were wide. "Let's go down to the lab and check you out. Maybe you've been infected by a ghost or something."

"Uh, Mom. Maybe Danny's just excited about a new school year. Don't worry. I'm sure it will wear off by the end of the day." Jazz smiled nervously and glanced at Danny, hoping he would take the hint.

Danny shook his head. "No, Jazz. I think Mom is right. You go ahead, and I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes, OK, Mom?"

Maddie smiled and hugged her son. "OK, sweetie. I'll go get things set up." She hurried to the lab to set up her equipment.

As soon as she was out of sight, Danny turned to his sister who had a worried look on her face and was about to say something. He held up a hand to stop her. "Don't, Jazz. She needs to know, and I'm finally going to have a chance to tell her without any interruptions. I've kept this from her and Dad for far too long." Jazz looked down at her feet and then looked up at her brother, a shaky smile on her face.

"Good luck, and remember: No matter what happens, you'll always have me and your friends." She gave her brother a great big hug and ruffled his hair, which earned her a slight glare and a laugh.

"Thanks." Danny took a deep breath and turned to the stairs that led to their lab. "Well, here goes nothing." Danny started down the steps. Only after a couple of steps, he turned to his sister. "Jazz?"

"Yeah?"

"If Dad comes down before Mom and I come back up, keep him busy, will ya? I don't think he's quite ready to know yet."

"Sure thing, little brother."

Danny continued down the stairs into the lab. His mom was busting about, checking dials, measuring liquids, and doing calculations. She turned to her son as he entered and gave him a small smile. She pointed to a chair on the other side of the room. "Why don't you sit down, sweetie, and we'll get started."

"Um…actually, Mom…I need…to talk to you. I think you might want to sit down for this." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had picked up while keeping his other half a secret.

Maddie looked a little confused but she set down the clipboard she had been holding and went over to the chair she had pointed out to Danny. "What is it, Danny?"

"Well, Mom, its-"

"Is this about Sam? Did something happen? She's not pregnant, is she?" Maddie crossed her arms and stared at her son.

Danny gaped at his mom. He started to laugh uncontrollably. "What? How could you…? Oh, man. That is just…too…funny." Danny wiped a few tears from his eyes and chuckled a bit more. "That would be the least of my problems." Danny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No, Mom. This has to do with me." He started pacing.

"Remember about two years ago when you and Dad first plugged in the portal and it didn't work?" Maddie nodded. "Then, later that day, you came back, found the portal on and me unconscious?" Maddie nodded, a little slower this time. "Well, you see, I decided to take a look inside the portal. I thought that maybe I could find something you guys missed. Well, I did find the on switch when I tripped on some cords."

"But you did have the machine unplugged before you went in there, right?" Maddie stood, sounding worried and her hands clenching in fear.

Danny sighed and shook his head. "No. I had forgotten to do that. So I was inside the portal when it turned on. I was thrown out and I hit my head when I landed."

Maddie looked shocked. "But…That much ecto-energy should have killed you! How is it that you're standing there?"

"Well, remember how you started seeing the Ghost Boy 'Inviso-Bill' shortly after that?" Maddie nodded, realization beginning to form. "I hope you don't freak out too much. All I ask is that you don't start shooting." With that, Danny shut his eyes and changed into Danny Phantom. He heard his mom gasp and then he heard a thump. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his mom had sunk to the floor and her mouth was wide open in disbelief.

"Umm…Hi, Mom." Danny gave a little wave and hovered a few inches off the ground. Maddie just let her eyes wander over the Ghost Boy who had, just a moment ago, been her son.

"Mom? Are you gonna say anything or are you just gonna sit there?" Danny crossed his arms and looked at his mom.

Maddie looked at her hands. "Oh. My. God. All this time…I've been hunting my own son." She glared up at her ghostly child. "And you kept this a secret from me for two years? Why?"

Danny changed back and dropped to the ground. "Well, I wasn't sure how you'd react. I mean, let's face it. Your aim is really good." Danny smiled and helped his mom up.

Maddie returned the smile and pulled her son into a hug. "Oh, Danny. I'm so sorry you know I'll always be there for you, no matter what." Maddie held her son at arm's length. "Who else knows?"

"Well, there's Sam and Tucker, since they were in the lab when I turned on the portal. Jazz found out on her own, after I fought a particularly nasty ghost counselor. Most of the ghosts I fight also know. Oh, and Vlad." Danny scowled at the last name.

Maddie stiffened. "How does Vlad Masters know about this?"

Danny cringed. "It's kind of a long story. Long, and very detailed. Besides, I need to get ready for school. How 'bout I tell you when I get home, OK?" Maddie grinned and nodded. Danny gave his mom one last hug and headed up to his room.

Meanwhile at the Stokes household, Adrian was trying to eat breakfast and hold his hands over his ears. He could hear Alex's music alarm blaring and wondered why she hadn't gotten up to turn it off yet. He finally had enough. The redhead put his spoon down, pushed his chair back, and stormed up to his sister's room.

When he opened the door, it was cold enough that he shivered and he could see his breath. He went to Alex's desk and turned off the noise that was her alarm. Adrian strode to his sister's bed and poked the lump that was in the middle of the four-poster bed. "Alex. You gotta get up. You're gonna be late for school." The blankets shifted slowly and Alex's face appeared.

"Wha-?" Alex yawned slowly. She had slept fitfully all night, was really cold, and felt like she was swimming in concrete. "What time is it?"

"It's 7:30." Adrian looked pleased at the look of horror that leapt onto his sister's face.

Alex bolted out of bed and raced to her closet. She started throwing clothes onto her bed and Adrian ducked out of the room to avoid the flying objects.

Alex ran past her brother into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She was still freezing so she turned the hot water till it was nearly scalding. Even though she was hurrying, she still ended up taking a 15-minute shower. While she was drying off, she yelled at her brother through the door, "Why didn't you wake me before now, you little twerp?"

Adrian merely leaned against the wall and examined his fingernails. "I figured you were just enjoying the music. It was up loud enough."

Alex headed back to her bedroom, stopping only long enough to give her brother a withering glare. Adrian ignored her and went back to his breakfast.

Adrian didn't have time to dry her hair. She merely wrung out the excess water and pulled on jeans, a sweatshirt, and her combat boots. She grabbed her books and bookbag and bolted down the stairs.

She sprinted into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. She only had time to grab a bottle of juice and an apple before she slipped her bookbag over her shoulder, and took off for her car, stopping only to grab her keys and phone.

The blonde girl jumped into her car and spun out of the driveway. She nearly tore off the gate as she sped out onto the road. Alex put her foot to the floor while eating with one hand and driving with the other.

Alex arrived at school only a minute before her class was to start. She sprinted down the hallway, reaching the room right as the bell rang. She yanked the door open and ran to her seat, dropping into it just as Mr. Lancer turned around to begin.

Alex was still panting from the workout but managed to smile somewhat when both Sam and Danny gave her a thumbs-up.

The image of Alex sitting in class wavered in the ornate stone bowl. The figure standing over it smiled, an expression which frightened most creatures.

"The transformations have begun, Master." Another being emerged from the shadows. This creature's face could be seen because its hood was down. Long pointed ears were nearly hidden by the enormous mane of black hair. Black eyes glowed with fire and the red skin gleamed in the semi-darkness. When the creature spoke, many pointed teeth appeared and a forked tongue snaked its way through.

"I can see that, Ludo. Well done. It won't be long now. Soon, the Ghost Boy and Demon Girl will be at our mercy. We must strike before they gain control. Has Plasmius returned with an answer yet?' The first shadow blew on the bowl and the image shifted to Vlad Master in his lab.

"No, Master. He said he had to do some more research first." Ludo bowed slightly, waiting for his master's response.

"Damn him. We need his help for this. He knows the Ghost Child's weaknesses. Why does he persist in making us wait?" The shadow clenched one hand tightly and made to lash out.

"Master, I will go and speak to him. Perhaps he has researched enough."

"Very good. And if he still insists on making us wait, kindly remind him of our deal. Now go!" The shadowy figure flung out a hand to indicate that his servant was dismissed.

"Yes, Master." Ludo bowed lower and backed into the shadows.

"In the meantime…" The being blew on the bowl again and the image shifted back to Danny and Alex, the former fidgeting in his seat and the latter sound asleep and drooling slightly. "The show has started and I'm going to enjoy watching this." Sinister laughter rang through the darkness.

_Like I said, 'Ludo' isn't very scary. But he's not supposed to be. Leave me a review with your suggestions for bad guy names._


	9. What's Happening to Us?

Sup, peeps. It's a new chapter! YAY! and i still have plenty of time to go see X-3!

anyway, there's a new character. she's not a major player here, so she won't be seen much. in later chapters she'll make more of an appearance.

My bad guy has a name! when i was finishing this yesterday, it came to me! if anybody figures out what his name means, i'll give you a cookie and a handful of M&M's!

On with the Show!

**Chapter Nine-What's Happening to Us?**

Alex woke with a start when the bell rang. She ran a hand across her mouth and yawned. The blonde picked up her books and rubbed her eyes.

Sam lifted and eyebrow as the blonde yawned yet again. Alex waved Sam away and made her way to her locker. Tucker and Sam shared a look as Alex rubbed her eyes. A little ahead of the group, Danny was almost bouncing down the hallway.

Alex stopped at her locker to grab her books. As she reached for the lock, her entire arm disappeared and she fell into the locker. Luckily, she caught herself before she made any noise and looked around to see if anyone had been watching. Sam, Tucker, and Danny were down the hall at their own lockers, Dash was at the end of the hall pestering some freshman, and Paulina was talking with her groupies. Alex shook herself and her hand and arm reappeared.

She took a deep breath and felt a little more awake. She opened her locker, still waiting to see if any more body parts might disappear unexpectedly, and grabbed her books. She slammed her locker shut and sprinted to catch up with her friends.

Danny had seen Dash as well. The scene was something that he was used to, but this time, it felt differently. The freshman Dash had decided to pick on was much like Danny at that age: small and skinny with unruly hair and wide eyes. Danny clenched his fists and started towards Dash. Sam happened to be watching Danny's face. She felt her eyes go wide as she watched Danny's irises go from crystal blue to neon green to a fiery red. The Goth put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder and he turned to face her, his hands still clenched and now slightly glowing red. Sam blinked once, deliberately, and Danny immediately relaxed, knowing that was the signal that his eyes had changed color.

Sam smiled as her boyfriend's eyes faded back to deep blue. Sam caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see Tucker walking towards them with a bored look on his face. Alex came running up behind him, her face pale and her eyes wide. _'She looks scared,'_ Sam thought and raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright, Alex? You look terrible, and you've been yawning all morning."

"I'm f-" Alex grabbed her stomach and dropped to the floor. Tucker knelt beside her as the blonde girl writhed in pain. Suddenly, she arched her back and her eyes rolled back into her head. Tucker picked her up and felt the girl go limp in his arms.

He looked at Sam and she pointed down the hall towards the nurses' office, somewhere Tucker had avoided as long as possible. The boy paled, but took off that way anyway, sprinting to get there in a hurry but not fast enough to jar the girl in his arms. Danny and Sam watched them go, as did most of the hallway.

As soon as Tucker and Alex disappeared, Danny felt a tremendous bolt of pain flash through his skull. It felt like his head was being split in two. He put both hands on his head and gritted his teeth, to stop from screaming. He squinted his eyes to keep the light out, which seemed to be very bright. When the raven-haired boy took a step, he felt the same jolt run through his entire body. He crumpled to the ground and when his head hit the floor, he was out cold.

Sam looked around at the people gathered around, hoping someone would step forward. Surprisingly, Dash pushed his way through the crowd, mad that somebody would dare distract from him. Sam gazed at him helplessly, and his harsh look softened. He picked Danny up and carried him to the nurses' office, Sam trailing behind.

Danny was floating. He felt a little disoriented and looked around to see if he recognized anything. He looked down and saw that he was now Danny Phantom. The white-haired Ghost Boy was confused by that. _'Wasn't I just at school as Fenton? By the way, where am I?'_

"You are on the border between order and Chaos," a voice rang out through the darkness.

Danny turned, trying to pin down the voice, but it seemed to come from all directions. "What? Who said that? Where are you?"

"I am the Guardian of this place. I have many names, most of which you could never hope to pronounce. You may call me Gigi." A figure emerged from the darkness, still cloaked in shadow. The only thing that could be seen were the brilliant silver eyes.

"But…why am I here?" Danny tried to float closer to the eyes, but nothing happened.

"The same reason she is here." Gigi raised an arm and pointed with a pale blue finger. Danny looked in that direction and saw Demonica floating towards them.

"Hello, Gigi." The Demon Girl greeted the shadow with sadness in her voice. "I messed up, didn't I?" She hung her head.

Gigi raised both hands to her face and lowered the hood she wore. Bright, purple hair fell down the girls back while silver eyes, outlined in black, gave the demon halfa a severe look. "I should think so! You didn't consult anybody about this bond, did you? Didn't you think there would be consequences?"

Demonica merely hung her head, not daring to speak. Danny looked back and forth between the Demon Girl and the Guardian. He cleared his throat, gaining Gigi's attention, and asked, "Would someone please explain what's going on?"

Gigi sighed. "This was not supposed to happen. Demonica has some extremely powerful enemies after her. She was only supposed to ask for your help. Now, because of your blood bond, these same enemies will start coming after you." Danny gasped and looked at Demonica.

Demonica had raised her head when Gigi began to explain. Now she decided to speak up. "But what about me being so tired? The bond has nothing to do with that, does it?"

Gigi turned to her. "Actually, it does. Because both of you are halfas, you already have altered DNA. You have merely altered it more. Your tiredness is merely a side affect of your body adjusting."

Danny was now even more confused. "What do you mean, we're both halfas? How do you know that?"

Gigi rolled her eyes at the Ghost Boy. "Everyone in the Ghost Zone, Demon Realm, and Chaos Realm knows of the existence of every halfa in that dimension."

Danny couldn't help but ask, "How could there be other halfas? There's only two in my world."

Gigi sighed and Demonica smirked. Gigi gave the girl a look and replied, "That is where you are wrong. There are only two 'ghost' halfas, or phantasms. Surely, you've heard of mermaids, centaurs, and werewolves, right?" Danny nodded thickly. "'Halfa' is a general term. The more specific term is what actually describes the creature."

Demonica piped up. "Besides, I now know both phantasms and their human halves."

Danny spun to gape at the girl. "How do you know that? Who told you?"

"Nobody told me anything. I figured it out on my own. I'm an artist, Danny. I look for things others might miss. I saw the similarities between you and Fenton and put two and two together."

"But I don't know who you are," Danny grumbled, not expecting a response. Demonica heard him, however, and turned to him with a sigh.

"I just told you, Danny. Who do you know that's an artist and was hanging around with both you and Fenton?"

Danny thought for a moment. When it came to him, he was truly shocked. "Alex!"

Demonica nodded. "But, what about…?" Danny gestured to his back and hers, hoping the girl would pick up on his meaning.

"Oh, you mean the wings and tail?" Demonica turned slightly and Danny nodded. "Well, in that respect, I'm a lot like you. I can change from human to demon just like you change from human to ghost. However, demons are a little more…temperamental, so I wear a red tear-drop necklace. It's a spell that helps me control the demon half."

"Ahem."

Both teens turned, looking at Gigi who had been listening intently. Both gulped, realizing they had forgotten about the Guardian momentarily.

"As intriguing as this conversation is, I have brought you two here for a reason. Have either of you heard of Ludo or his Master, Nogard Raiyf?"

The white-haired boy and the red-haired girl shook their heads. Gigi muttered under her breath, "I was afraid of that" and then spoke so the teens could hear her. "When I release you, do some research on him. In order to win, you must arm yourself with knowledge as well as skill."

The teens were puzzled. "What do you mean?" Demonica cocked her head as she asked.

The Guardian rubbed her eyes with one hand and sighed heavily. Danny and Demonica shared a glance, then turned back to Gigi as she spoke again. "He seeks to control one or both of you. If he can turn you before you understand how to beat him or have control of your new powers, then all hope is lost for all time and all dimensions." The two young people widened their eyes. They were both too shocked to say anything for several minutes. Danny was the first to break the silence.

"Can you do anything to help us?" Danny looked eagerly at Gigi, who could only shake her head and sigh.

"Why not? Surely, you don't want this 'Nogard' guy to win, do you?" Demonica floated with her hands on her hips.

Gigi's head snapped up, silver eyes blaring. "I am here to guard the border between order and chaos. Both World Wars? Hitler? 9-11? All those times were when Nogard gained a small measure of control! Imagine what would happen if he broke the barrier completely!" Demonica shrank back and the fire in Gigi's eyes softened. "No. the most I can do is keep you shielded from him. He has been watching you both and waiting for his moment to strike. From now on, he will not be able to watch you." Gigi held her hands up, waved them in a series of complicated motions, and whispered a few words. Silver fire wound from her fingers to enclose first the Ghost Boy and then the Demon Girl.

The teens could see and hear nothing while the fire worked its magic. They both felt a tingling sensation and then the fire was gone. Gigi seemed to have disappeared the same time her fire did. The two teens looked around wildly but they couldn't see anything but darkness. Suddenly, they heard a voice.

"Remember what I told you. Find as much information about Nogard Raiyf as you can. As for your powers, the most I can say is this: work together. Another thing; your human and halfa appearance will change whether you want it to or not. Do not be alarmed. Now, it is time for you to return."

Danny opened his eyes, expecting darkness. Instead, he was confronted by a blinding white ceiling. He groaned slightly and shut his eyes to block out the glare. He heard someone shuffle over to him and place a cool hand on his forehead. Danny opened his eyes a sliver and saw the school nurse's smiling face.

"Good. You're awake. That fall knocked you out cold for a couple of hour. How are you feeling?"

Danny did a mental check. Other than a slight headache, which was probably from falling, he felt fine. He told the nurse the same and she nodded. "Good. Now, I can give you a choice. You're welcome to finish out the day or I can have someone escort you home."

Danny thought. He had been doing pretty well in his classes lately, so he had no real reason to stay. He then remembered Gigi's message and made up his mind. "I think I'll go home and sleep off this headache."

The nurse nodded and turned back to her office. "Let's see. Did you have anyone in particular that you wanted to have escort you home?"

"How about Sam Manson?" Danny asked hopefully, skeptical that he'd actually get his way.

Surprisingly, the nurse laughed. "That's fine. I know she'll take good care of you. You can sit up if you want and I'll go get Miss Manson." The nurse left and Danny pushed himself into a sitting position. He then remembered that Alex had come here before him and he turned to the other bed.

He was surprised to see that Alex, too, was sitting up on the small cot. She looked tired and he know knew why.

"You all right, Alex?" Danny swung his legs over the edge.

"Huh? Yeah. I'm fine. I take it that wasn't a crazy dream, then?" Alex copied Danny's position and covered a yawn with her hand.

Danny shook his head. "Nope. The question now is: Do we tell Sam and Tucker? They already know about me, but…" Danny cocked his head at Alex.

The blonde thought back to her dream. She didn't want to tell and Sam, or especially Tucker, but she knew if she didn't, Danny and she would never be able to get anything done. "I think we have no choice, Danny. If we don't, we won't be able to practice without interruptions."

Danny nodded. The nurse reappeared, followed closely by Sam. When the Goth girl saw that Danny was awake and okay, she gave him a tight hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

The nurse turned to Alex. "Good to see you up, Miss Stokes. I'll give you the same choice I gave Mr. Fenton. Stay for the rest of the day or go home and get some rest?" Alex glanced sideways at Danny and the boy thought at her, ** We should get started on the research Gigi told us to do. And we'll have a few hours to get in some practice as well. **

Alex smiled and told the nurse that she was going home. The nurse went to her office to fill out the paperwork.

"Anyone in particular, Miss Stokes. I believe you know a Tucker Foley…"

"Yeah. I know him. He can help me get home."

The nurse finished and handed Danny and Alex two slips of paper. "These are your excused absence slips. When you go to class tomorrow, show these to your teacher and you'll get whatever work you may have missed."

The teens nodded and stood up slowly, both still a little achy. The nurse added, "You may want to thank Mr. Foley and Mr. Baxter." When she received confused looks, she continued, "They're the ones who brought you here."

The trio of Alex, Danny, and Sam trooped into the hall to be met by Tucker. He looked worried and was glad to know that both Alex and Danny were going to be ok. The group went to their lockers to pick up a few of their books.

When they all got out to the parking lot, Alex turned to Danny. "Where's somewhere we can all talk without fear of being heard or interrupted?"

Danny thought for a moment. The Fenton house and the Stokes house were both out of the question for the simple fact that neither was safe for either halfa. Sam's house was also out because her parents still saw Danny as a bad influence. He knew Tucker's house was also a no go simple because it wasn't very big or very private. Then, he remembered.

"There's an old, abandoned warehouse on Pier 13. The only ghost we ever find there is the Box Ghost. We should be able to talk fine there."

Alex nodded and got in the passenger seat of her car. Tucker drove while Alex fiddled with her tear-drop necklace. She was silent the whole way to Pier 13 even though Tucker did try to make conversation.

Sam drove Danny's car and Danny, too, had been quiet the entire time. He was starting to have second thoughts about revealing Alex's secret.

The group arrived at Pier 13 and went into the oldest warehouse. They walked all the way to the back of it and settled themselves in a corner.

"Sorry about coming all the way out here, guys, but we needed a place to talk without interruption." Alex was taking deep, calming breaths while Danny talked to Sam and Tucker.

"You ready, Alex?" The blonde looked up at the sound of her name. She found Sam and Tucker looking at her apprehensively and Danny nodding. _'Guess it's now or never,'_ Alex thought to herself as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her jeans. She looked at the curious faces surrounding her, gathering courage. She closed her eyes and felt her human appearance disappear as Demonica took its place.

She opened her eyes.

* * *

_WooHoo! My First Cliffie! sniff** I'm so proud! **sniff_

_remember, if you read it, review it! over 400 hits and only 3 reviews? what's up with that?_

_New Fave Quote: Dan Phantom-"Hello, kiddies. I'm Dan Phantom and if you give me your soul, I'll make you cookies!"_

_push the button! push it! Dan Phantom commands you! _


	10. Tempers, Tasks, and Schedules

**_Gah. This chapter gave me such a headache. It's not one of the longer ones, and i don't think its very good, but it moves the story along. The next chapter should be better._**

**_I do introduce a new character in here, but she doesn't stay long. For right now, she's a little comic relief. she may be back by the end of the story, i don't know._**

**_Because this chapter took me so long, I'm going to try and get a new chapter going asap._**

**_I will also be doing a series of songfics for DannysGhostWriter from the movie Quest for Camelot. i made a deal, and i plan to stick to it._**

**_On with the show! _  
**

****

**Chapter Ten-Tempers, Tasks, and Schedules**

The warehouse was completely silent for a long time. Danny was making a list of any powers he thought Demonica might have, Tucker was merely staring at the Demon Girl in front of him and Sam was thinking.

'_When I met her in the park, she did say she would tell Danny eventually. I wonder if this has anything to do with what Danny said about Nogard and the Realm of Chaos.' _Sam smiled at the girl and Demonica took this as a good sign. The redhead sat down and wrapped her tail around her.

Tucker had finally thought of something to say and broke the silence with "You're hot!" He immediately regretted it as all three of his friends turned to stare at him. Tucker turned bright red and stared at his shoes. Danny grinned wickedly, Sam raised an eyebrow, and Demonica blushed and lowered her eyes. The group fell silent once again.

This time, Sam was the one to break the silence. "Shouldn't you change back now?" Demonica sighed dejectedly.

"If it bugs you, then yeah. It's just that, as a human, my wings and tail are pretty restricted and it gets irritating after a while."

"Oh. Well, in that case…Do you think…maybe…you could show us…you know…what you can do?" Sam looked hopefully at the girl and was rewarded with a gigantic grin.

Demonica leapt from her sitting position to the sky with her arms outstretched. She circled the warehouse a couple of times before stopping to hover in front of the group.

"Anything specific you want to know?" Demonica examined her fingernails idly while her tail twitched languidly behind her.

Danny fielded this question with a quick headshake. "Nah. Just give us the basics and we'll go from there." The raven-haired teen changed to his white-haired alter ego and rose to sit cross-legged in the air next to the hovering girl.

"Umm…okay. Hmm. The basics…Well, I can fly, obviously. I can control and create fire. I can also teleport. And, that's about it."

Danny nodded distractedly. "What about invisibility or healing?"

"Well, I have a natural quick-healing ability that runs in my family. But the invisibility, no. Demons can't do that." The girl remembered something from that morning. "But…" Here the girl shut her eyes and concentrated. She could feel herself getting lighter, losing density. She opened her eyes to find her new friends were staring at the place where she had been. "I seem to be able to."

Danny coughed slightly, trying both to get his friend's attention and cover up his own shock. "So, my Ghost DNA is affecting you. But is your DNA affecting me?" Demonica shrugged, Danny looked at his hands, and Tucker looked back and forth between the two, trying to spot any differences. Sam remembered something and spoke up.

"I think it already has. Danny? Remember this morning? You got mad and your appearance changed. Then, at school, your eyes turned red when you saw Dash picking on that kid." Sam looked up at her boyfriend, seeing his red-streaked hair and slightly pointed ears.

Demonica gave Danny a scrutinized look. She hadn't noticed until now, but sure enough, he had red streaks in the hair around his face and the tops of his ears were slightly pointed. Not as much as her own, but they were there all the same.

She remembered what Sam had said. "Sam? You said Danny got mad and then he looked like this?" The Goth nodded and Demonica directed the last part of her question to Danny. "What about?"

Danny thought back to this morning. The mere memory of it was enough to make his temper rise. "She was demeaning herself, using names like 'carbon copy' and comparing herself to Paulina." Danny spit out the name with such venom, Demonica knew immediately how her DNA had affected him. She was close enough, that as she watched Danny clench his fists, his eyes flickered between glowing emerald and fiery red. His fists were now smoking slightly and his eyes had chosen to stay red.

On the ground, Tucker and Sam noticed Danny's steaming hands. The two shared a concerned look and then Sam called to her ghostly boyfriend. "Danny? You know I love you, right?"

At the sound of her voice, Danny blinked and he relaxed his hands. The red eyes faded back to neon green and the smoke from his hands vanished. He smiled sheepishly at his friends on the ground and then raised his eyes to the girl hovering next to him. She was staring at him, trying desperately not to laugh.

Soon, she could contain it no longer and began to laugh, drifting slowly to the floor. Danny raised an eyebrow and followed her. When they were about a foot off the floor, Danny changed back to human and dropped to the ground. He crossed his arms and stood next to his girlfriend, lightly tapping his foot. "What's so funny, D?"

"It's just…Ha ha…It seems…oh man…that I got…some of your powers…and you got…all of…my temper!" Demonica's face was red and tears were streaming down her face before she managed to stop laughing. She was forced to take several deep breaths before she wiped her eyes and looked at the people around her.

"And that's funny, why?" Danny still stood with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"You'll see," Demonica said cryptically, and with a sigh, shifted back to Alex Stokes. "Now, we need to find out about Nogard and Ludo, and we need to make time to practice fighting together."

Tucker held up his PDA. "I think I've got something that will work. Right after school, unless we have detention or something family-related, we spend two hours researching Norad-"

"Nogard." Danny and Alex spoke up at the same time and Sam raised an eyebrow at them.

"Right. Then, we'll break for dinner, and meet back here for a couple of hours so Danny and Alex can work on their powers. While they practice, Sam and I can get our homework done and be ready to help you guys when you're done."

"That sounds like a great plan." Danny voiced his approval. He glanced at Sam's watch, since he didn't own one, and groaned. "Oh man! I almost forgot. I have to get home. I told my mom I'd tell her all about my ghost-fighting as Phantom."

"You told your mom? And she didn't freak out? That's great!" Sam gave her boyfriend a hug. "What about your dad?"

Danny wrapped one arm around her shoulders and shrugged. "That's part of what I'm going to talk to my mom about. I hope I can get them to stop hunting me and start hunting the ghosts I fight."

"Okay, so Danny, you're gonna talk with your mom. Any chance you can ask her about Nogard?" Alex looked at him intensely.

Danny nodded and turned her attention to Sam. "You're our resident death and darkness expert, Sam. Can you check your personal library and maybe your favorite bookstore and see what you can find?"

Sam gave her a thumbs-up and the blonde shifted her gaze to Tucker. "Tuck, since you're the techno-geek, no offence-"

"None taken," was the reply, along with a grin.

"You'll be our Internet guy. Your job is to scour the Internet for anything and everything relating Nogard, Ludo, or the Realm of Chaos." The blonde girl absentmindedly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"And I'll talk to my dad and search our library. If there's anything there, I'll find it."

The four teens nodded and traded cell phone numbers. Before they got to leave, they heard a very familiar shout and three of them groaned.

"BEWARE!" Danny looked up to see the Box Ghost hovering in front of him. The teen sighed and held out a hand to Tucker. The African-American teen grabbed his book-bag, dug out the Thermos, and handed the container to his friend.

Danny twisted the lid off and aimed it at the Box Ghost, who hadn't moved. Something didn't seem right, so Danny lowered the Thermos.

"Aren't you going to blather on about how you are the 'Master of All Things Cardboard and Square' and that you 'Cannot be kept within the confines of a cylindrical container'?"

"NO, FOR TODAY I AM MERELY A MESSENGER. FOR THE ONE CALLED ALEX FROM MASTER PLASMIUS, THE MESSAGE IS THIS: NIBS HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU." Here the Box Ghost raised his arms and managed to shout out another "BEWARE!" before Danny sucked him into the Thermos and he, along with Sam and Tucker, turned to Alex, who was rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Who's Nibs?" Alex looked up at her friends, a bored look on her face.

"Nobody, really. Just this annoying little demon who practically worships me 'cause I saved her." Alex sighed, then winced as a shrill screech resounded through the warehouse.

"Ra-Ra!" The group flinched at the high-pitched sound and Alex just rolled her eyes as a small black creature hurtled itself at the girls leg.

After a few minutes, Alex finally managed to dislodge the creature and it flew up to sit on her shoulder. It was completely black with only bright yellow eyes and white claws, vaguely human, and had wings and a tail much like Demonica's. It regarded the group for a moment, then turned its attention to Alex.

"Ra-Ra! I'm so glad I found you! You haven't been to see me in a while so I went to visit Icey and he told me some ghosties had seen you. Then Cuckoo showed up and was blabbing about you, so I talked him into letting BB send you a message and then I got bored and followed him." The little demon never seemed to breathe while speaking and when she was done, proceeded to flit around Alex's head.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker looked at one another in confusion, then looked at Alex who was simply nodding her head.

"Umm…could you tell us what that was about?" Tucker asked cautiously.

"Huh? Oh, sure. Nibs wanted to find me so she visited Klemper, or Icey as she calls him. He mentioned that some ghosts had seen me. Then, Vlad, or Cuckoo-" Here the three teens chuckled-"showed up, probably talking about our little meeting, and Nibs convinced him to send the Box Ghost out with a message for me. She got bored and decided to follow him." Alex still had that bored look on her face and was now examining her fingernails. "Was there anything else you wanted, Nibs?"

"Uh, yep-yep. The DJ's are lookin' for ya." The little creature had settled itself on Alex's head and was combing the girl's hair with its claws.

Alex groaned and hid her face in her hands.

"Who're the DJ's, Alex?" Sam raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"The Demon Justices, basically a tribunal that keeps tabs on everything I do. They keep trying to bring me in to review me, but I've evaded them so far, usually by hiding behind my parent's shield for a day. Which means I'd better get going. Tucker, do you mind riding with Sam and Danny?"

The teen in question shook his head and Alex smiled. "Great. Well, I'll see you guys at school tomorrow." She hugged all three of her friends and gave Tucker a peck on the cheek, which left him completely speechless.

Alex trotted out to her car and said goodbye to Nibs, who vanished with a pop. As the car left, Sam and Danny shared a glance while Tucker just stood there, one hand to his cheek, with a dazed look on his face.

"Come on, we better get going. We've got a lot of work to do." Danny took the keys Sam held out to him and led the way to his car, followed by Sam and a still speechless Tucker.

_**Well, that's over. i know its not one of the better chapters i've written, so don't critique it too bad.**_

_**What do you think of Nibs? I tried something different to come up with her, so i'd like to know what you think.**_

_**Leave me a review! Skulker has cookies and Dan has your soul! Muahaha!**_


	11. Time Flies

**_OMG! It's a sign of the apocolypse! Two chapters in a little less than two days! GASP! What is the world coming to?_**

**_well, since yesterday was 6-6-6, i think that might have something to do with it. actually this chapter was surprisingly easy to write after that last one. shudder_**

_**On with the Show!**_******  
**

**Chapter Eleven-Time Flies**

The next day, the four friends met before class to discuss their findings.

Alex had evaded the DJ's once again and had talked to her dad. He couldn't remember anything offhand, but he said he would put his inventions on hold to help her. The blonde girl told her friends with a sly grin, "He thinks this is all for a major history project and he's glad I'm interested in what he's doing."

Danny's talk with his mom had gone well. In his words, "My mom is going to talk to my dad. Hopefully, they'll be convinced to cut back on Danny Phantom hunting." He had found out a little bit of information from his mom about the Chaos Realm, but nothing on Nogard or Ludo.

Sam had somewhat better luck. Her personal library had a few books about the Realm of Chaos and its inhabitants. She hadn't been through them completely, but that was her next step.

Tucker's job would be the most time-consuming. He had searched through a few websites and found a couple that gave descriptions of Ludo, Nogard, and their home. It would be some time before Tucker would be through every site. Once the others were done, Tucker planned on asking for their help.

And so it went. Three months passed while they followed Tucker's schedule. There were times when one or all of the teens ended up in detention (usually because they were helping Danny with ghosts and or Demonica with demons) and they would use the time to get their homework done. Because of this, their grades steadily improved and they had more time for practice and research.

During these weeks, many changes occurred for the group. Danny's black hair acquired white tips and his regular white and red t-shirt was exchanged for a bright blue shirt with black borders on the collar and sleeves. On the front of it was a green lightning bolt surrounded by white clouds. The emblem Sam had designed for him now resided on the shoulders of his new (artificial) black leather jacket.

Sam also experienced some changes to her wardrobe. Her usual black and purple color scheme was now broken up by green and white. Her black t-shirt with the purple skull became a black t-shirt with a green skull. The all black trenchcoat she had found now sported white cuffs, white buttons, and a white border along the bottom along with green stripes running down the sides of the jacket. The most noticeable change, however, was her hair. She had taken Danny's advice and stopped wearing her black wigs. She now had her natural hair, a strawberry blonde that graced her shoulders.

Tucker also changed his appearance with help from his friends, mostly Sam and Alex, with Danny making sarcastic suggestions. He got rid of the beret begrudgingly and had started wearing contacts. He kept the same colors in his wardrobe but had changed the actual outfit. He now wore a red hoodie with green sleeves, black jeans, and his regular shoes.

Alex had cut her blonde hair, making it now ear-length. She got rid of the blue streaks and now had alternating black and red. Her flamboyant outfit had toned down a little. She now wore a sleeveless green turtleneck, blue cargo pants with tons of belts and patches, and her ever-present yellow sneakers. She also wore a black sweatshirt, but it was usually just tied around her waist.

Sam had gone a step further to unify the group and made copies of Danny's Ghost emblem and Alex's red tear drop. Each of them wore it differently, and no two were the same. Sam had attached Danny's emblem to a black choker and turned Alex's tear into a tongue ring.

Tucker had been the most daring. He wore Danny's emblem as a keychain and had gotten the red tear-drop tattooed below his right eye. Alex merely added the emblem onto her necklace, and Danny made the emblem into an earring and the tear into a thumb ring.

A few weeks back, Alex and Danny had suddenly stopped practice, noticing for the first time that their alter egos had changed in appearance as well.

Danny's emerald eyes were now flecked with red and the red streaks in his white hair became more prominent. His white gloves were now fingerless and his boots had become more like high-tops.

Demonica had experienced the biggest change. Her normally pale skin had turned a light green and her bright red hair now had black streaks, green tips, and a large chunk of white hair right by her face. Her wings were still there and her ears were still pointed but her tail had disappeared. Her red eyes were now flecked with green, almost mirror images of Danny's. Her outfit stayed the same with the only changes being her gloves, now white with green stripes, and her boots, green with white laces and white stitching.

As the year drew to a close, Casper High began gearing up for the Winter Formal. Decorations began creeping up in the hallways and classrooms. While teachers tried to keep their classes attention, the only thing on everybody's mind was the upcoming dance. Girls were talking about dresses and hair, while the guys hung back, discussing pranks and teasing each other into asking out that special someone.

Sam and Alex were no different. They spent most of the week discussing dress designs and colors. That weekend, the two girls dragged their guy friends to the mall.

While the two girls picked out their dresses, the boys choose their tuxes. Tucker's was a navy blue with a white dress shirt while Danny had chosen a black tux with a light purple dress shirt. Both boys grabbed matching fedoras and went back to their friends.

The two teens had still not decided, so they told Danny and Tucker to come back in half an hour. The boys nodded their agreement and left to wander the mall.

After walking in silence for several minutes, Tucker finally worked up the nerve to ask, "Do you think Alex likes me?" Danny stopped suddenly, nearly causing a collision. After apologizing profusely, Danny pulled his friend over to a bench. They sat down and Danny eyed his best friend with an intense gaze.

"I think that's pretty obvious, my friend. I think she's liked you since the first time you met. Why?" Tucker's gaze dropped to his hands as he answered.

"'Cause I like her, and I want to ask her to go out with me. And maybe be my girlfriend."

Danny smiled and clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. Tucker raised his head. "Than go for it, buddy. I'll even give you a bit of advice. Find out her favorite flower and whether she wears a lot of jewelry. Combine the two somehow and you'll definitely get on her good side."

Tucker smiled back at his best friend. Just then, Sam and Alex approached, arms laden with bags. The two friends jumped up and offered to carry the girls' bags. The offer was accepted and four friends left the mall, talking animatedly about the upcoming dance.

They began preparing for the dance almost immediately. Sam offered the use of her family's limo to save the group some money. Tucker found out that Alex's favorite flowers were orange tulips and arranged for two dozen to be delivered to her home the day of the dance.

Danny took it upon himself to order corsages and boutonnieres for himself and all his friends. The only problem he had was that he didn't know what colors to use. Alex took pity on him and told him that her dress was red and Sam's was lilac.

Alex wanted to buy something for Tucker, something that he would like and that would show that she liked him as more than a friend. She knew he loved technology, but she didn't know what software he preferred. The blonde spoke to the electronics store manager and explained her dilemma. The man had been skeptical at first, but when Alex said, "Money is no object," the manager had been extremely helpful.

Alex left the store with only one item. It was, however, perfect for Tucker. It was a brand new PDA, more compact than his old one, with the same features, including a camera and a phone, and much more memory. She had his name inscribed on it and the manager had given her a written guarantee that, if and when it broke, Tucker could return it and they would replace absolutely free of charge.

All that was left now was to wait for the day of the dance. And for someone who was extremely impatient, that day couldn't come fast enough.

**_Yippee! another spectacular chapter is finished. good thing, too. my notebook's almost out of paper. i'm gonna have to start a new one in order to finish this story._**

**_i found that i'm actually getting a bunch of good reviews when i write songfics. i think this bodes well for me._**

**_anyway, leave me a review! Remember, Evil Dan and Skulker are making cookies! _**


	12. The Dance

_**FINALLY! This chapter has been done for about a week now, but this stupid site didn't want to let me upload a new document.**_

_** Anyway, this chapter is mostly fluff. You have been warned.**_

_**In case some of you haven't noticed, i've deleted the authors notes. they were distracting from the story. The first one, before the first chapter, had 300 hits alone! it was driving me nuts. so if i have any news, i'll put up a temporary note until the new chapter is done, then it comes down and a summary goes in the notes before the chapter.**_

_**i would like to point out a few things. first off, my one-shot, Phantom, has the same number of reviews as this story, and 400 fewer hits. i think there is something wrong there. so hopefully getting rid of the notes will net me more reviews.**_

_**Does anybody remember the ring that made its first appearance in chapter 2? if not, go back and read it. cause it makes an appearance in this chapter. you will all go AWWWW at the end.**_

_**text **_: flashback

**text** : speaking between D and D's minds (there are only two people with D names in this story. figure it out!)

text : regular words

_'text' _: self dialogue

"text" : regular dialogue

on with the show!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve-The Dance**

The day of the dance dawned bright and clear. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the forecast had promised cool days and nights for next few days.

"I love watching the sunrise. It's so beautiful." The speaker was a tall redhead, her leather wings folded tight against her back.

"Dawn patrols are the best. The city's so peaceful." This came from the white-haired ghost boy sitting beside her.

Danny and Demonica were sitting at the top of the tallest trees in the park. They had just finished their early morning patrol of the city. Things had been quiet lately, with the only disturbances being the Box Ghost, who had been throwing around some boxes in an abandoned warehouse, and Nibs.

_**Nibs had somehow gotten herself stuck in Dr. Maboroshi's office. Unfortunately, Casper High's school psychiatrist had been in there when it happened. He tried to help her get out, but she kept freaking out and destroying the office. By the time the two teens had shown up, the poor man had given up and was sitting in his chair, elbows propped on his desk. He was rubbing his temples, desperately trying to rid himself of the headache cause by that high-pitched bundle of nerves rocketing around his office.**_

_**Danny had to bite back a laugh as Demonica calmed the little demon long enough to get her outside. When she returned, Danny was helping clean up the office. Demonica offered her assistance and it was graciously accepted.**_

_**In no time at all, the office was clean and the three were chatting comfortably. Dr. M, as he had asked to be called, was an easy man to talk to. He had answered all of the questions Demonica had thrown at him, as well as asking a few of his own, some of which shocked the demon girl into silence.**_

_**When Danny glanced at the clock and reminded the girl that they still had some patrolling to do, Demonica was a little reluctant to leave. Dr. M. waved them away with the promise that they were always welcome back. "My door is always open. Come talk to me about anything," were his exact words, and the teens nodded and left.**_

The two heroes took to the sky once more, circling the city one final time before heading home.

**What time are you guys gonna come by with the limo? **Demonica's eyes searched the ground while her mind spoke out to Danny.

Danny thought for a moment before answering. **Well, the dance doesn't start until nine and we were thinking about going out for dinner beforehand, so how about 6:30?**

Demonica smiled. **That sounds great. I'll expect you at 6:30. See ya, Danny. **_'That'll give me plenty of time to find something nice for Sam and Danny.'_ She flapped harder, hoping she would make it home before her parents woke up.

One other person was up early. Sam was sitting in her window seat, also watching the sunrise. She hardly ever did this because she just wasn't a morning person. On the rare occasions that she was awake this early, then she would use the time to write.

She put down her notebook and looked over at her closet, where she had hung up her dress. When she had gotten home, she had showed it to her mom, who turned out to like it. It was still covered but she couldn't wait to put it on and find out Danny's reaction.

Sam yawned loudly and decided to go back to sleep. She set her alarm and fell back into bed, not noticing the dark shadow that crossed her window.

Four o'clock rolled around. Alex had found what she wanted for Danny and Sam: a watch for him and a couple of rare books for her. The gifts were wrapped with simple colors and placed next to the front door.

Alex took a quick shower and blow-dried her hair. She then took a really long time getting dressed and putting on her makeup. By the time she was done, it was 6:00. Now, all she could do was wait.

Meanwhile, Danny and Tucker were standing in the Manson living room. Both boys were dressed in their suits and ties, holding their fedoras in their hands. Danny kept shifting nervously and checking his jacket pocket as if making sure something was there. Tucker merely rolled his eyes and crossed his arms behind his back, humming some random tune.

The Manson's had already talked to Danny about his "intentions," as they had said. He gave his word that he would be a gentleman and they accepted it, leaving the two boys standing there while they went to fetch Sam.

Danny turned the fedora over in his hands, picked off an invisible piece of fuzz, and glanced up the stairs, as he had been doing for the last five minutes. This time, however, the breath was shocked out of him and he nearly fell to the floor as he felt his knees go weak.

Tucker turned to look at Danny when he heard his friend gasp. He saw where the other boy was looking and turned to the stairs. When he saw Sam coming down them, he whistled softly in appreciation.

Sam looked positively stunning. She wore a beautiful lilac ballgown that had bits of lace woven into the skirt and beads around the neckline and on the straps. She wore lilac gloves that went above her elbow and two-inch heels that were decorated with rhinestones. Her strawberry-blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun with two tendrils falling around her face. Her violet eyes were accented with a light lilac eyeshadow and her lips wore a dark-purple lipstick.

Sam reached the bottom of the stairs and Danny was still trying to get his mind to catch up. "Wow…" He finally managed to croak out the word while fiddling with his hat. Sam smiled, then laughed as Danny blushed.

"Much as I'd love to watch Danny drool over you," Tucker interrupted, his voice laced with sarcasm, "We do have one more person to pick up."

Danny snapped out of his Sam-induced trance and put his hat on, set at a jaunty angle. He held out his arm to Sam and asked, "Shall we?"

Sam laughed again and linked arms with her boyfriend. "We shall. The limo should be waiting." Tucker rolled his eyes and followed the couple to the black stretch limo parked out front.

Alex sat by her window, nervously tapping one foot. She looked at her alarm clock for what seemed like the 20th time that minute. She looked out the window and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Tucker step out of the limo.

The blonde teen stood up quickly, suddenly very nervous. She walked to her bed, and sat down again, slipping on her three-inch heels. She stood, adjusting her skirt and smoothing out the wrinkles.

She turned to the floor-length mirror next to her closet and admired her reflection. The dress was red sating with halter straps, a fitted bodice, and floor-length box-pleated skirt. Underneath she wore red satin heels and on her arms were gloves that came to mid-forearm, made of the same fabric as her dress. Her hair was not put up, but was feathered to frame her face. Alex wore very little makeup, just some pale-blue eyeshadow and cherry-red lipstick.

There was a knock on the door and Alex turned to see her mother standing there, her grey eyes welling up with tears.

"My baby's growing up." Emily's voice was choked with emotion as she gathered her daughter into her arms. Alex returned her mother's hug awkwardly.

"Ahem." The two broke apart and saw Alex's dad standing in the doorway. "There seems to be a nice young man waiting for you downstairs."

"Well, I'd better be get going then." Alex looked in the mirror one last time, grabbed a tulip from the bouquet that had been delivered that morning and tucked it behind one ear, and headed to the stairs. When she got there, she took a deep breath and started down them slowly, holding her skirt up just enough so she wouldn't trip over it.

About half-way down, she spotted Tucker. He was standing in the living room, his mouth opening and closing without a sound, while Danny and Sam stood behind him, smirking slightly.

Alex came down the rest of the stairs with her cheeks flushed and a small smile on her face. The two teens stood staring at each other for several minutes before Alex's parents interrupted and demanded pictures "of the happy couple and their friends," as the blonde's mother said.

All four teens rolled their eyes, but dutifully stood for several pictures before saying they had dinner reservations and had to be going. On the way out, Alex grabbed the gifts and received strange looks from her friends.

Once they were actually in the limo, Alex handed the presents to their respective owners. Sam was ecstatic about the books, Danny oohed and aahed over the watch, and Tucker was speechless for his PDA.

After dinner, which was at Chez de le Feu with the four friends talking and laughing for more than an hour, everyone piled back into the limo and they headed to the dance.

The dance itself was rather dull. Sam and Danny danced a couple of slow songs while Alex and Tucker mostly just sat and talked. With only 15 minutes left before the dance ended, Danny convinced Tucker to ask Alex to dance, and Sam convinced Alex to agree.

With their mission accomplished, the couple headed outside to get some fresh air. After a quick glance to make sure no one was looking, Danny changed to his ghost half and flew his date up to the roof of the school. Once there, he changed back and settled next to Sam.

They stared up at the clear sky for several minutes before Danny cleared his throat, causing Sam to look over at him. He looked extremely nervous and was fiddling with something in his jacket pocket.

"Is something wrong, Danny?" Sam sat up, looking a little worried.

"Umm…well, I…uh…um," Danny's mouth stopped connecting with his brain as he tried to get the words out.

"Spit it out, Danny." Sam stood up and shook out her skirt. "We should probably head back inside soon."

Danny stood up and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. He grabbed his girlfriends' hand, and in one swift motion, turned her to face him as he dropped to one knee, wincing slightly as he felt the light gravel of the rooftop.

Sam's breath caught in her throat and her heart sped up. _'He isn't…We can't…Oh, God.'_

"Sam? This is something I've thought about for a while now. I love you, and I want nothing more than to make you happy." Danny swallowed and held up the little box. "This is a promise ring. I want you to promise that no matter what happens between us, you'll always be happy." He opened the box to reveal the emerald and sapphire ring Jazz had given him at the beginning of the school year. Danny pulled Sam's glove off and slipped the ring on her right hand ring finger.

"Danny, I…I don't-"

He stood up and placed a finger on her lips, silencing any protests. "This isn't an engagement ring. Think of it as…a symbol of how much I care."

Sam smiled, her eyes filling with tears of joy. _'I already know who would make me happy.'_ She pulled her boyfriend close with a tight hug and leaned in to give him a kiss.

Danny met her lips halfway and the relished their perfect moment.

* * *

**_everybody go "Awww." so...much...fluff!_**

**_don't worry. the next chapter will be all action and angst. and some very pissed off people. you'll just have to wait until i get the next chapter up! Nah nah nahnah nah! _**sticks out tongue

**_leave me a review! EDS Cookies-Now endorsed by Phantom, world's cutest Ghost dog! _**


	13. Brief Authors note

Hey, everybody. This isn't a real chapter, its just a brief little note to let you know what's going on.

The next chapter, I'm sad to say, is going to up the rating. There's blood, torture, character death, and some language. I tried not to get too carried away, but it has to be there for the story to work.

In other news, I have a new story up on rpspartan. Deviantart. Com (without the spaces, all in lowercase letters). Go check it out, and tell me what you think. If you like it, let me know. Maybe once I get enough chapters on it, I'll post it here.

Oh, I forgot one other little thing. In the previous chapter, I mentioned a Dr. Maboroshi. He doesn't belong to me, much as i which he did. He belongs to Ellen Brand, the author of "Outside Looking In." It's a good story and gives poor Dr. M. much more credit there than I do here. Go read it, and you'll see what I mean.

Remember, as soon as the new chapter is done, this comes down and a new chapter goes up. If you want to leave me a comment about this, go back and leave it on the previous chapter. Just make sure you make some mention of this when you do.

Thanks and I'll get back to working on the new chapter!


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